How to Train your Dragon: Astrid's Turn
by Maui Girl 808
Summary: What if Hiccup was the tough, stubborn, agile Viking and Astrid was the weak, shy, clumsy Viking? Warning: some parts have been changed from the movie to fit Astrid better. AstridxHiccup and AstridxToothless FRIENDSHIP!
1. Welcome to Berk

Chapter 1

_Welcome to Berk. It's twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery. The village? In a word, sturdy. It's been here for seven generations but every single building is new. There's fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests._

A sheep bleated loudly as it was ripped from the ground. The sheep next to it took its place and chomped on the grass as if nothing had happened.

_You see most places only get mice, or mosquitoes, but no…_

_We have._

Astrid jumped before slamming her door shut as a fireball was launched at it. "Dragons…"

Berk was overrun by so many dragons it wasn't even funny after a while.

The Viking in Astrid pushed her out of her house and towards the black smith. "What are you doing out here? Get back inside!" Everyone shouted at her suddenly someone grabbed her color and hoisted her up "who let you outside? What is _she _doing outside?"

That would be Stoic, the village leader. Legend say's that when he was just a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off it's shoulders. Did Astrid believe it? Yes, she did.

"Get inside now!" He said pushing her away. "What have we got?" He asked. A nearby Viking responded with "Nadder's, Zippleback's, Gronkle's oh and a Monstrous Nightmare."

"Any Nightfury's?"

"None so far sir."

Stoic brushed an ember off his shoulder "good."

Astrid burst into the sweltering shop. "Hey Gobber."

The large man turned and smiled "well look who decided to join the party. I thought they would try and keep you inside again." This was Gobber, he was once Stoic's closet battle brother but when he lost his foot and arm he took over as the town blacksmith.

Astrid forced a laugh as she fumbled with her aprons strings "who me? No! There's not a dragon out there that would know what to do with all of… This!" She said gesturing to herself.

"Well they need toothpicks don't they?"

Astrid blew her blond hair out of her eye before going towards the window "who need's a sharpened blade?" She shouted above the noise, a stream of fire whizzed over her head and burned a house to the ground.

See? Old village, lots and lots of new houses.

Suddenly a fire was started near the blacksmith and five teens rushed past to put it out. Astrid sighed as she listed off the teens there was nerdy Fishleggs, the bickering twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, sturdy and stubborn Snotlout, and of course. The cutest, smallest, but toughest Viking teen around was.

Hiccup…

The name wasn't really all that terrifying but it did make people do a double take and that gave him plenty of time to prove them wrong.

_Oh their job is so much cooler than mine._

Thinking Gobber wasn't watching she climbed over the table and swung her legs over. Suddenly she was grabbed by the back of the shirt and dragged back in to the shop.

"Oh let me out please. I need to make my mark!"

"Oh you've made plenty of marks." He said setting her down "all in the wrong places."

She pouted "please let me out just two minutes! I'll kill a dragon my life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date!"

Gobber sighed, "You can't lift a hammer. You can't swing an ax. You can't even throw one of these!" He said lifting up a rope with two weights tied to the end.

Just as he said that another Viking rushed over and stole it from Gobber before tossing it and hitting a Gronkle head on.

"Okay, but _this _will throw it for me!" She said walking over to a wooden contraption. When her hand brushed against it a stray helmet was launched and hit a Viking in the head. Who then promptly fainted.

Gobber sighed annoyed "see now this right here it what I'm talkin' about!"

Astrid winced "it was a mild calibration issue."

"No, no Astrid! If you want to get out there to fight dragons you need to stop all. This."

Astrid scoffed "but you just gestured to all of me!"

Gobber nodded "yes! That's it! Stop being all of you!"

"Oh…" She said in a sassy tone.

"Oh… Yeah."

"You sir, are playing a dangerous game! Keeping this much raw, Viking-ness. Contained! There will be consequences!" She shouted.

"I'll take my chances. Sword, sharpen."

Astrid sighed before doing as she was told. _One day, one day I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon is everything!_

A nadder would surely get her noticed. Gronkle's were tough killing one of those would definitely get her a boyfriend. Zippleback's were exotic, two-headed, double the status.

But the one thing that would change everything and be the number one status booster was the one that was never seen.

It never steals food and it never misses.

A blue blast of fire turned a large catapult into a pile of ash and splinters.

"NIGHTFURY!"

No one had ever killed a nightfury before and Astrid was going to be the first.

"Man the forge Astrid. They need me out there. Stay. Put. There. Well you know what I mean." With a loud battle cry he rushed into the battlefield.

Making sure he was out of sight Astrid threw off her apron and grabbed her invention before running to a secluded area.

She stood there with her invention poised in front of her "come on give me something to shoot at. Give me something to shoot at…" Suddenly something black whizzed nearby, startled she flew off her invention and accidentally activated it.

There was a loud roar and Astrid watched excitedly as a black shape fell out of the sky.

She jumped with joy "yes! Did _anybody _see that?!"

Her invention was suddenly stomped on and a large red dragon loomed over her head. Her shoulders slumped as she stared at it "except you…" The nightmare roared and Astrid took off like a jackrabbit.

"Help! Help me!" She shouted running through the village the nightmare hot on her heels. Stoic sighed as he saw her tiny figure zoom past with a dragon right behind her. He turned towards his second in command who was busy holding down a deadly nadder "don't let it get away. I'll be right back."

There was a large pole smack in the middle of the village so Astrid ducked behind it and screamed as the flames flew around the pole, nearly singeing her clothes. The nightmare was suddenly punched to the side.

The bright red dragon roared at the man who had punched him who was none other than Stoic himself. The nightmare opened its vast jaws and spit out a tiny ember.

Stoic grinned "you're out." The nightmare gave a blood-curdling scream before flying off.

Seeing as how no one was paying attention to her at the moment Astrid slightly tip toed away from the crowd but for the third time that night someone grabbed the back of her shirt.

It was Hiccup, and he did not look happy.

"Uhh… Hi..."

There's just one more thing to know.

Stoic stood behind Hiccup and put his hand on his shoulder "should I handle this son?"

Hiccup was the son of the chief.

Hiccup glared at Astrid "no dad I think she'll finally understand if someone her _own age _tells her this time." Astrid bit her bottom lip. "Really Astrid all we ask is that you stay inside safe and sound* but you always ignore us and step outside and when you do _disaster _happens!"

She had heard Hiccup yell at al lot of people but never this loudly. She guessed he had something to prove to the whole village. "I didn't do _that _much damage…"

"They've stolen half our _livestock _Astrid. How can you say that you didn't do that much damage?"

"I didn't really _make _them steal it."

"Everyone was so busy helping you they couldn't focus on the other dragons! Now our livestock is gone! I shouldn't need to remind you that my dad has an entire village to feed and one day I will too!"

Astrid giggled awkwardly "between you and me I think the village can do with a little less feeding if you know what I mean."

A few insulted Vikings put a hand over their large stomachs and scoffed at her.

"This isn't a joke!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. Astrid whimpered shrinking before his eyes, sighing Hiccup stepped back "face it. Astrid, you can't do anything right."

She mumbled something softly.

"What?" He asked leaning in.

She blushed seeing how close he was to her "I hit a nightfury."

Hiccup backed up and let out a weird choking Astrid moved slightly forward ready to help if he started gagging right in front of her but instead he burst out laughing "are you serious? A nightfury? _**You? **_Of all people caught a nightfury?" He fell on his butt laughing.

Astrid pouted "no really I caught one! Look it's down by raven's point if we can get a search party out there then-"

"Stop!" All traces off humor had miraculously dissolved from Hiccup's face as he stood in front of her "just… stop. Please." He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her towards Gobber "take her home, and make sure she stay's there."

Snotlout rolled his eyes at Astrid "I've never seen someone fail so well!"

The twins chimed in with "that failure was inspiring! True genius! True! We bow to you!"

Astrid did her best to ignore them "yeah, yeah I get it. Thanks so much."

Gobber gave his apprentice a shove and sighed, when they were out of ear shot Gobber asked "all right lass what's eating you."

"They never listen to me, and I've never seen Hiccup so _angry._"

Gobber sighed, he knew just as well as anyone else that Astrid was head over boots in love with Hiccup "he just care's about his village that's all. Remember he's got a big weight on his shoulders."

"I know I just wanna help take the load off ya know?" She forced a laugh as she stood on her doorstep "he probably doesn't even notice me half the time. He wants a girl that can hold her own and chop off the head of a nightmare with a flick of her wrist. All I am is a talking fishbone."

"It's not what you look like that's keeping him away it's what's _inside _he can't see past."

Astrid blew her hair out her eyes "gee that makes me feel so much better."

"Lass I know you're tryin' but you just can't be someone you're not."

Astrid sighed before pushing the door to her house open "I just wanna be one of you guys." With that she let her door close behind her.

She then popped right back outside through the back door and ran straight towards raven's point.

***Safe and sound.**

**See despite the fact that Hiccup's a bit of a jerk in this story he's still a little sweet on Astrid. I know it's not really Cannon but I'm changing it slightly so that it'll fit more with Astrid. So yeah hope you enjoyed it!**

**I own nothing.**

**Maui Girl 808**


	2. Astrid has always been different

Chapter 2

The Vikings stood around a large table in the main hall; high above on the roof was a gold statue of a dragon hanging from the strongest rope in the village. Stoic stood over the table with a large map spread in front of him.

"Either we finish them or they'll finish us! It's the only way we'll be rid of them!" He shouted for everyone to hear "if we find the nest and destroy it the dragons will leave! They'll find another home!" He slammed a knife into the corner of the map, where there were paintings of dragons flying around it; this was where the dragons lived. Where exactly was unknown.

"One more search before the ice sets in."

"But those ships never come back!" Spitleout, his brother and second in command, shouted. Stoic glared at his brother before turning back to everyone else "we're Vikings! It's an occupational hazard! Now who's with me?!"

The gathered crowd fell into silence with a few murmurs of "no thanks" or "I've gotta feed the kids" and the wimpy "I don't want to go!"

Stoic sighed while rubbing his temples, finally he looked up "all right then. Those who stay will have to look after Astrid." Immediately everyone's hands shot up. Stoic smiled at his cleverness "that's better."

Soon the room began to empty out and soon all that was left was Gobber and Stoic. "All right I'll pack my undies." Gobber said setting down his mug.

Stoic shook his head "oh no. I need you to stay here and train some new recruits."

Gobber groaned "great, and while I'm doing that Astrid can mind the shop! Lots of time to, hot metal, lots of fire, sharp objects. What could possibly go wrong?" Stoic sighed.

"What am I gonna do with that girl?"

Gobber took a quick sip from his drink before turning to his battle brother "you could put her in dragon training with the others." Suddenly he spat out his drink feeling an empty place on his gums with his tongue.

"No I'm serious" Stoic replied.

"So am I."

"She'd be killed the second you let the first dragon out of its cage!"

"It's because no one wanted to teach her after her parents died! Besides you don't know that!"

"Actually I do know that."

"No, you don't."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't!"

"Listen you know how Astrid is. Since the time she could _crawl _she's been. Different. She never listens, she has the attention span of a s_parrow!" _Her father and I took her and Hiccup fishing do you know what she did? She went _hunting! _For trolls!"

Gobber turned around sharply, waving his mug around in defense "trolls exist! They steal your socks! Only the left ones though what's with that?"

Stoic rubbed his temples.

"I mean when her mother was a lass."

Gobber sighed "Oh here we go."

Stoic ignored him "she was the same age as Astrid is now when she walked into dragon training with nothing but a rock and a shield! And do you know what happened?"

Gobber finally fished his tooth out of his mug. "She failed."

" She killed a Gronkle Gobber! Even as a child she always spoke about what she had to do what she had to become. She knew a Viking could level mountains, tame seas!" Stoic sighed before sitting next to Gobber "Astrid is not that girl…"

Gobber sighed "you can't stop her Stoic. You can only prepare her." He paused making sure his friend was listening. "I know it seems hopeless but the truth is since her parents died she's had no one to look after her and I won't always be around to protect her. She's going to get out there again. She's probably out there now!"

* * *

**I own nothing, all rights go to Cressida Cowell and DreamWorks.**

**Hope you liked it! Review please!**


	3. The Night Fury

Chapter 3

On the other side of the island Astrid stood in the center of a heavily wooded forest, journal in her right hand, and her charcoal pen in the left. She gently closed her eyes and took in a breath before letting it out and opening her eyes, when she saw nothing she sighed before making a small X on her poorly drawn map.

Frustrated that the entire map was covered with X's she angrily scribbled over the entire thing before snapping the book shut and tucking it into her pocket.

"Why do the gods hate me?" She asked stepping over a fallen tree "some people loose their mug or their boot. Not me. I manage to lose a whole dragon!"

She sighed in frustration before hitting a branch to the side only to have it snap back and hit her in the face. She gently rubbed her stinging face "even nature hates me…" Suddenly she noticed that the branch that had just rudely slapped her was part of a huge tree that was nearly split clean in two.

Confused she looked down and noticed a large ditch followed by even more destroyed trees and ruined ferns. Curious she followed the debris before she saw a small clearing. She hid herself behind a rock and bravely peeked over.

Beyond the rock lay an unconscious black dragon.

Terrified she quickly ducked below the rock and took out her knife. "Calm down Astrid, you can do this." With every once of courage she could muster she stepped out from behind the rock and slowly walked towards the black dragon.

There was no doubt about it. This was the night fury. The night fury she had captured! She could barely contain her excitement "I did it! I did it! Oh wow this fixes everything!" She bravely set her foot on the dragons bundled up arm "I have brought down this might beast!"

Suddenly the animal under her shifted and she cowardly leaped off of its side and took out her knife. The night fury opened its eyes and all that stared back at her were two frightening emerald orbs. She gasped before calming herself and holding her knife overhead "you can do this Astrid."

The dragon whined. A look of pity washed over Astrid's face, she quickly shook her head and grasped her knife firmly "no. I'm going to cut your heart and bring it to the chief. I'm a Viking." She said quietly "I'm a Viking!" She said with more confidence. "I. AM. A. VIKING!"

The black beast looked at her sadly before placing it's head down, praying for a quick death. Suddenly something over came Astrid and she let her arms droop to her sides. She looked at the pathetic creature as it lay there bound and helpless.

She sighed "I did this…"

The nightfury sighed, why hadn't she killed him yet? Suddenly his eyes shot open at the sound of ropes snapping. Was she? Setting him free? As soon as his limbs were loose enough he pounced on the human and growled loudly.

Astrid wanted to scream, but when she opened her mouth all that came out was air. The nightfury opened it's wide jaw as if preparing to eat her, but instead of gnawing at her flesh it roared loudly and then quickly pounced off of the pathetic excuse of a Viking and flying crookedly away.

Astrid promptly fainted on the spot.

**Okay! AT LAST!**

**Sorry for the long wait but at least it's here!**


	4. You're going to dragon training

Chapter 4

When Astrid finally woke up she realized that the sun had already set. Swearing to herself she ran back to the village. To get to her house she had to pass Hiccup's house.

She was about to pick up her pace and dash past the house before she heard someone calling her name.

"Astrid! Wait!" She stopped and turned to see Hiccup running towards her with a shield in his left hand. Her heart thundered in her heart as he came to stand by her.

He looked her square in the eye and tired to catch his breath. After a moment or two he handed her the shield.

"You get your wish Astrid. My dad said you start dragon training with the rest of us tomorrow morning."

Her heart literally froze in her chest at his words. She pushed the shield back and sighed.

"Actually Hiccup. I changed my mind…" She started carefully. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"But ever since you were little." His gaze traveled up and down "well. Little-er."

She blushed "you've talked about nothing but killing dragons."

"Well I've decided to become a…" She wracked her brain for an excuse. Telling Hiccup that she had just gotten the life scared out of her by a nightfury sounded stupid and pathetic. Besides he wouldn't believe that.

"A _real _girl! You know dish washing, cooking, cleaning." He stared at her strangely "yep! Just call me Astrid the housewife!"

The red head raised an eyebrow before sighing. "Well you don't have a choice. My dad's making you." She stared at him in shock. He wasn't giving up.

She huffed angrily. Well neither was she. "Can I speak with your father? Surely I can change his mind."

Hiccup shook his head "you know how stubborn he is. Besides, I agree with him. You should know how _not_ to get yourselfkilled."

She looked down, her face red with embarrassment. "Besides he's leaving tomorrow to look for the dragons nest again and he's powering up for the trip. So he's kind of busy." She sighed.

"Fine. I'll do it."

Hiccup smirked "I thought so." He said handing her the shield. "We start tomorrow in the arena."

She nodded sadly. She was about to turn around when she felt someone ruffle her hair.

"Don't worry about it. Just don't get yourself killed all right?"

She gulped before hurrying back to her house.


	5. Dragon Training and Another Encounter

Chapter 5

Gobber lifted up the heavy door and gestured to the arena inside.

"Welcome to Dragon training!"

The teens inside took a deep breath and walked into the arena, Hiccup took in a huge breath of air before proudly walking in, a sword in his left hand, and an ax in his right. "No turning back."

The group of kids gazed at the large arena in awe; this was the beginning of their whole lives…

"I hope I get some _serious _burns!" Tuffnut said walking up behind Hiccup.

"I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder, or lower back." His sister replied back.

"Yeah it's not fun unless you get at least a scar."

"Yeah I know right?" A small voice chimed in. Everyone turned around to stare at the newest arrival. "Pain. _Love it!" _She replied sarcastically.

"Aw great who let _her _in?" Tuffnut asked annoyed.

Hiccup slammed his fist into his friends head "I did." Jaws fell to the floor as Hiccup walked over to the blonde. "Glad you made it."

Astrid blushed bright pink and gripped the shield he had given her the day before. Hiccup rolled his eyes before holding out the ax in his hand. Astrid stared at it confused.

The red head rolled his eyes again "_take it _stupid!"

The girl blushed and reached out and gripped the handle "wait!" Hiccup suddenly pulled it back and sighed, gripping it tightly in his hand. "This belonged to my mother. She gave it to me before she died." He leaned closer "take care of it."

Astrid looked into Hiccup's emerald eyes and saw something she had never seen in another Viking, sadness. She took in a deep breath, stuck out her chest, held out her hand and nodded. Hiccup smirked and handed her the ax.

"All right! Let's get started!" Gobber barked coming up behind his apprentice.

"The recruit who does _best _will get the honor of killing his first _dragon!"_

Astrid bit her lip.

"Well _Astrid _already killed a nightfury so does that disqualify her or-"

The twins burst into laughter and Hiccup slammed the blunt end of his sword onto his cousin's head. "Can it!"

"Can I transfer to the class with the _cool _Vikings?" The male twin asked before walking off.

Astrid hung her head. "Don't let em' get to ye' lass. Besides, you're small and weak. That'll make you less of a target! They'll see ye' as sick or insane and go after the more Viking like teens instead!" He pat the girl on her shoulder and pushed her into position.

"Behind these doors are just some of the many species you will learn to fight!" He gestured to one door "the Deadly Nadder!"

"Speed: 8, Armor: 16." Fishleggs said.

"The Hideous Zippleback."

"11 stealth times 2."

"The monstrous nightmare!"

"Fire power 15!"

"The terrible terror!"

"Venom 12-"

"CAN YOU STOP THAT? And, the Gronkle."

"Jaw strength 8…" He whispered to Astrid.

Gobber reached for the switch to open the door and smirked at the waiting students.

Snotlout stepped forward "whoa wait! Aren't you gonna teach us or something?"

"I believe in _learning on the job."_

Astrid scoffed "I know."

The door flew open and a brown dragon burst from the cage.

"Today is about _survival. _You get blasted. You're dead!"

The twins cried out as the Gronkle charged head first at them. "Quick what's the first thing you're going to need?"

"A doctor?"

"Plus five speed?"

"A shield!"

"Shield! Go!"

Everyone, minus Astrid, scrambled to grab a shield. "A shield is your most important piece of equipment! If you must make a choice between a sword, or a shield, take the shield!"

The twins both reached for the same shield, and of course, a fight broke out over who got to keep it.

"Get your hands off my shield!"

"There's like a million shields!"

"Take that one, it has a flower on it. Girls like flowers."

Ruffnut ripped the shield out of her brother's grip and smashed it onto his head "oops. Now this one has _blood _on it."

Their fight continued until a fireball knocked them off their feet and sent them flying. "Ruffnut, Tuffnut! You're out!"

"What?" Called the dizzy twins.

"Those shields are good for another thing! Noise! Make lots of it, to throw off a dragons aim!"

The teens quickly beat their weapons against their shields and immediately received a result as the Gronkle began to sway side to side in mid air. Obviously confused.

"All dragons have a limited number of shots! How many does a Gronkle have?"

"I don't know! Five?" Guessed Snotlout.

"No, six!" Fishleggs answered, proud that his knowledge was useful for once.

"Six that's right!" Suddenly the Gronkle regained itself and fired at Fishleggs, knocking his shield out of his hand.

"Fishleggs. Out." The large boy screamed in terror and ran out of the arena.

Astrid screeched and ducked behind a weapon holder "Astrid get in there!" The blonde gulped, edged out and was nearly blown away by a fireball. She screeched and ducked back behind the weapon holder.

The Gronkle forgot the useless girl and circled around to find another target. It's sights landed on Hiccup and Snotlout and fired.

"So cuz. We don't hang out enough, and my mom and dad are letting me move into the basement. You should come by sometime!" Hiccup jumped when he saw the fireball heading for them and leaped out of the way.

"We can trade training technique's! It's doing good for you! Maybe you can help me out?" The fireball hit Snotlout's shield and he was knocked off his feet.

"Snotlout! You're done!"

Hiccup leaped again and landed next to Astrid. The girl blushed.

"Well, it's just you and me." Hiccup's eyes widened when he saw another shot being fired at them.

"Sorry, but it's just you!" He yelled running out of the way.

"Huh?" The fireball hit her shield and blasted it out of her hand. The girl snapped her head back and ran after her shield, the Gronkle hot on her heels.

"ASTRID!"

Forgetting her shield the girl made a run for it. The Gronkle neared and trapped her against a wall. Astrid screamed and threw her hands over her head and snapped her eyes shut.

Just as the dragon was about to kill her with a fireball Gobber appeared just in time and yanked it's mouth away from his apprentice, forcing it to spit out it's fireball on the wall next to Astrid's head.

"Go back to bed ya' overgrown sausage! You'll get another chance!" He shouted locking the beast back in it's cage.

Astrid stood up shakily and stared at the giant hole that could have been her head.

"Remember this!" Gobber said addressing his students.

"A dragon will always. _Always_." He turned to his apprentice and leaned towards her, "_go for the kill."_

"So why didn't you?" Astrid pondered as she sat in the clearing where she had met the vicious nightfury.

She sat on the grass, legs crossed and thought. Finally she stood up, sighed and walked forward. Hoping to find out where the fierce beast had gone.

She had walked for a few minutes before spotting two rocks and between them an opening wide enough for a human to squeeze through. Curious she walked through the opening and gasped at the sight before her.

There was a small clearing with a big, beautiful lake, but no nightfury. She sighed, "Well that was a waste of time…"

She looked down and saw tiny black dots on the ground. Curious she picked on up and rubbed it between her fingers. It was smooth, kind of like a scale.

Suddenly a black figure zoomed in front of her and screeched, she leaped backwards and fell to the ground. She scrambled back to her feet and saw the nightfury from yesterday trying to scramble up a wall.

It failed in its task and fell down the smooth surface before gently gliding down.

Astrid's heart thundered in her chest as she watched the dragon in front of her. She didn't know it, but it wasn't fear that kept her in place. Rather, curiosity and amazement. She leaped onto another rock to get a closer look and watched as the dragon attempted to fly, but fail miserably and crash into the ground. The dragon tried again, and received the same result.

Astrid reached into her pocket and pulled out her journal and quickly sketched out the nightfury.

She heard a loud growl and looked up to see the irritated nightfury breath out a blue flame. "Why don't you just, fly away?" She pondered aloud. Suddenly something struck her eye. It's left tail fin was missing.

Her eyes traveled back to her book and she quickly smudged out the left tail fin. The nightfury tried once more to fly, but failed miserably. Deciding to give up it wandered over to the lake and tried to catch a fish, but failing miserably.

A look of pity washed over the girls face. Her pen rolled away from her and fell of the edge of the rock she had been sitting on. "Shoot!"

The nightfury looked up at the sudden sound and saw the young girl sitting there.

Astrid titled her head to the side, and the nightfury did the same. They stared at each other for a long time, before Astrid finally decided to head home.

**I KNOW I'M NOT DEAD! FINALLY I HAVE WRITTEN A CHAPTER AND IT'S LONG! I HOPE YOU ENJOY! PLEASE REVIEW! I NEED IT!**


	6. Fight, with a Deadly Nadder

Chapter 6

As Astrid made her way back home it began to rain, and when it rained, it poured. By the time she entered the mess hall she was dripping wet and her clothes were soaked.

"All right what did anyone noticed what Hiccup did wrong today?"

"I mistimed my somersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble." Hiccup said in anger.

"Yeah, we noticed." Ruffnut said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

Snotlout patted his cousin on the back, "no man you were awesome! It was so _Hiccup _of you!"

"No. He's right ya need to learn howta be hard on yourself. Help's ye' fix yer' mistakes in the future."

Astrid hung her head and began to quickly walk forward, but Gobber saw her and said, "now can anyone tell me wha' Astrid did wrong?"

The blonde grabbed herself a plate and a cup before stalking ahead.

"She showed up." Ruffnut mocked.

"She didn't get eaten." Tuffnut replied back.

"She's _never _where she should be." Hissed Hiccup as he slammed down his cup.

Everyone, Astrid included, cast him a strange glance and for a moment there was an awkward silence before Tuffnut broke it. "Says the guy who let her into the arena!"

Hiccup glared at his friend before throwing it at Astrid, "that was before she almost got herself _killed._"

"Thank you, Hiccup. You need to _live _and _breathe _this stuff. _This._" He pulled out a large book and slammed it onto the table, "is the dragon manual. It has everything we know about every dragon we know _of._"

Lightning crashed outside and Gobber looked up, "no attacks tonight. I'm off to bed." He said before walking away.

"Wait. You mean read?" Tuffnut asked his face twisted in disgust.

"While we're still alive?" Asked his twin, the same look of disgust on her face.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout asked angrily.

Fishlegg's was practically bouncing in his seat, "I've read it, like, seven times! There's this water dragon that sprays boiling hot water at you and there's this other one…"

As the nerd rambled on, he failed to notice the death glare from Snotlout.

"Yeah, that's great!" Tuffnut said sarcastically, cutting off the nerd's speech in mid sentence.

"You know there was a chance I was gonna read that." Tuffnut started.

"But now?" Finished his sister.

"You know what? You guys read. I'll go kill stuff." Snotlout said getting up and walking away.

"No way! Come back here!" The twins called out, chasing after him.

"There's this one with spikes all over its body…" Fishlegg's said as he followed the other teens outside.

Astrid stood up and nervously walked towards her crush, "so I guess we share or-"

"Read it." Hiccup stated before rushing outside.

"All mine then! I guess I'll see you, uh-" The door slammed behind him, "tomorrow."

Astrid sighed, "great."

* * *

Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Astrid snuck into the mess hall and opened the book she had left on the table earlier that night.

She sat down, placed her candle down next to the book and opened the large, dusty, book.

"Dragon classifications." She read aloud, "Strike class, Fear class, Mystery Class."

She flipped the page and saw a drawing of a stout looking dragon, with no legs, and a giant, teeth filled mouth.

"Thunderdrum. This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous kill on sight."

She stared fascinated at the book before turning the page, "Timberjack. This gigantic creature has razor-sharp wings that can slice through full-grown trees. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight."

She turned the page, "Scauldron. Sprays scalding water at its victims, extremely dangerous."

Lightning crashed outside and Astrid let a very, un-brave, cry of fear. Her head snapped around, but no one was there, and the giant door to the mess hall was only slightly open. She shrugged before turning back to the giant book.

"Changewing. Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight."

Noticing a pattern, Astrid began flipping quickly through the book.

"Gronckle. Zippleback. The Skrill. Bone Knapper. Whispering _death. _Burns it's victims, buries its victims, chokes it's victims, turns it's victims inside out. Extremely dangerous, extremely dangerous, kill on sight, kill on sight kill on sight."

Finally she got to the page she wanted.

"Night Fury! Speed: Unknown. Size: Unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, do not engage this dragon, your only chance: hide and pray it does not find you."

Astrid took out her journal; flipped to the drawing she had made of the nightfury and dropped it onto the manual.

* * *

Earlier that same day, Stoic and his follower's pulled into helheims gate.

"I can almost smell them." Stoic said punching the map they had brought with them. "They're close."

As they drifted closer to the mist surrounding the dragon's home Stoic shouted out his orders "Steady! Hard to port!"

Men ran to the front of the ships and repeated the order their chief has given them.

They pulled into the mist, their boats disappearing from sight. In a flash of fire, a nightmare's shadow was reflected off the mist.

* * *

The next day at dragon training Astrid was in the middle of a large maze that Gobber had set up for training that day. They were supposed to run through the maze and at the same time, fight a Deadly Nadder, but Astrid's focus was anywhere _but _on the beautiful blue dragon.

"Hey Gobber, I noticed the book had nothing on Nightfury's. Is there another book, or a sequel? Maybe a Nightfury pamphlet?"

She swung Hiccup's axe to the side in a questioning gesture, when suddenly a stream of fire was shot at her, and the axe in her hand was reduced to nothing but a useless stick.

She jumped back in surprise, her whipped around and her eyes met with the Deadly Nadder's glare.

"Focus Astrid!" Gobber shouted at his apprentice, "you're not even trying!"

Astrid was debating weather to go left or right, but as the giant blue beast got closer, she went with left and ran for her life.

"Today it's all about attack! Nadder's are quick and light on their feet. _Your _job is to be quicker, and lighter!"

Fishleggs, who was running through the maze, jumped in fear as the Deadly Nadder leaped on the wall next to him. The Nadder lifted up its tail and spikes grew out. With a deadly whip of its tail the spikes flew off and hit Fishleggs's shield.

Fishleggs ran blindly through the maze while at the same time using the wall to break off the spikes stuck in his shield. All the while shouting at his teacher.

"I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!"

"Look for it's blind spot!" Gobber shouted, "Every dragon has one."

Tuffnut and Ruffnut were running through the maze, suddenly as they came to a turn they came face to face with the Nadder. Luckily, they were in its blind spot.

They moved as the nadder moved, desperately trying to stay in its blind spot.

Ruffnut sniffed the air once and made a face of disgust. "Gross! Do you _ever bathe?"_

"If you don't like it, then just get your own blind spot!" He yelled at his sister.

"How bout' I give _you _one?" She asked slamming her forehead against her brothers.

The Nadder heard the bickering and turned its head to the side, seeing the twins it roared and let loose a hot stream of fire. Tuff and Ruff dodged it just in time.

"Blind spot, yes. Deaf spot, not so much." Gobber stated in a bored tone.

Astrid ran past the bars where Gobber was watching, looked up and asked, "hey, so, how would one sneak up on a Nightfury?"

"No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale. Get in there!" He shouted impatiently to his apprentice.

"I know Gobber, but just hypothetically speaking-"

"Astrid!"

The blonde in question snapped her head around to see Hiccup and Snotlout crouching near a wall.

Hiccup motioned for her to get down. She complied and pressed herself against the wall, next to Snotlout.

The chief's son looked over the corner, but quickly brought his head back as he saw the Nadder's giant back, but it was turned. They had a chance.

He launched forward, fell into a tuck and roll and landed perfectly on the other side, Snotlout copied his cousins actions and the both beckoned for Astrid to do the same. She took a deep breath and tried to copy them, but alas, Astrid's shield weighed her down and she failed halfway through her roll.

The Nadder heard her fall, snapped its head around and screeched at her. Scared, Astrid leaped to her feet and ran for her life. The Nadder leaped onto the wall, hopped two walls over and landed in front of Hiccup and Snotlout.

Hiccup raised his sword, ready to fight the giant creature, when suddenly his cousin shoved him out of the way.

"Watch out man. I'll take care of this." Snotlout threw his mace, and missed the dragon by a mile.

Hiccup glared daggers at his cousin.

"The sun was in my eyes, Hiccup!" Snotlout leaped out of the way of the Nadder's flame.

"What do you want me to do, block out the sun?" He asked, even though there was no sun to be seen, as he and his cousin ran through the giant maze.

"I can do that, but I'm a little busy right now!"

Snotlout dived left and the Nadder, forgetting the weaker meat, dove after Hiccup. Hiccup skidded left, past Astrid, and the blue dragon slammed into the wall. Causing one wall to fall, and create a domino effect.

"Has anyone ever seen one napping?" Astrid asked her mentor, oblivious the chaos around her.

"Astrid!" Gobber shouted, pointing at Hiccup, who was bouncing from wall to wall, trying to outrun the giant dragon at his heels.

Hiccup landed on the wall in front of Astrid, lost his footing and fell onto the blonde blacksmith below. "Astrid!"

The red head coughed as dust gathered around them, and cursed when he saw his sword stuck in Astrid's shield.

"Ooo, love on the battlefield." Tuffnut teased as he and his sister watched Hiccup tried to untangle himself from Astrid.

"He can do _way _better!" His sister chimed in.

"Okay look, if you just. Ow!" Astrid shouted as Hiccup practically kicked her leg trying to stand up. Once he was up he saw the Nadder approaching them quickly. He gripped the hilt of his sword and pulled tightly, hoping to free it from Astrid's shield.

He put his leg on the shield and it broke free, there was still a bit of shield of it, but it was free. With a loud battle cry he lifted his sword and slammed the wood covered part of his sword into the side of the Deadly Nadder's head.

The dragon jerked to the side before walking away, whimpering slightly.

Hiccup gripped his sword, and for a second, sympathy washed over his face. Had he really hit the creature _that _hard?

He pushed the thought aside, turned around and glared at Astrid, who was huddled on the ground in fear.

"You!" He said pointing his sword in her face.

"What is _wrong _with you? Not only did you nearly get yourself killed _again, _but also managed to _destroy _my mother's axe! Astrid that was the last thing, probably the _only _thing she gave me! That weapon was special to me! When she was lying there, burned to a crisp, she handed me that axe and said, 'make me proud.'"

Astrid hung her head, making her look like a child that was being punished.

"And another thing! You act as if this is some kind of _joke! _I'm sick and tired of it! Our parent's war is about to become ours." He shoved his sword in her face again, "figure out whose side you're on."

He turned around sharply before stomping away.

Astrid sighed, _'it's hard to fight your parents war. When your parents aren't alive.'_

_

* * *

_

_**OMG I'M NOT DEAD! YAY!**_

_**And yes, Hiccup's a really big jerk, but that's what I **_**want **_**you to think! NEW CHAPTER COMING UP NEXT!**_

**And should Toothless be a boy, or a girl? Help me decide!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


	7. A dragon named Toothless

Chapter 7

The next day Astrid reentered the clearing, with a shield in one hand and a pretty decent sized fish she has "borrowed" from the docks. She had managed to find an entrance closer to the ground, but she had to wedge herself through two rocks pretty close together, being small Astrid was able to fit perfectly, her shield however, was another story.

She took one step forward and her shield became stuck. Sighing, she ducked under the shield and pulled it from the other side. The shield refused to budge, shrugging she turned around and surveyed the area before she began walking forward.

Astrid strained her ears to pick up any noise, but none came.

Suddenly she heard a soft rumbling noise and she turned around sharply. There, creeping silently down a rock was the black nightfury.

The nightfury crept off the rock and slid silently to the ground. It eyed the human suspiciously and Astrid tried her best _not _to pass out.

The dragon growled softly and Astrid warily held out the scaly snack to the equally scaly creature.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the dragon crept towards the fish; it sniffed the air and cautiously moved towards Astrid. It opened its mouth, revealing a set of pink gums. Astrid moved slightly to drop the fish in it's mouth, but the sudden movement startled the nightfury and with a snap of its jaws it jumped back.

Astrid did the same, clutching the smelly, dead, sea creature to her chest.

The blonde looked at her hip hand saw her dagger shining in the sun. She had made it a few years ago, the first thing she had made from scratch. The dragon growled loudly, bearing its teeth as she moved her hand closer to it. She paused, but continued with her actions.

She lifted the dagger from her belt, and dropped it on the ground next her.

The creature made a gesture with his head towards the lake, as if saying _'get rid of it.'_

With skill unfound until now, Astrid picked the dagger up with her boot, and chucked it into the water.

Seeing that the human was defenseless the deadly expression on the dragons face disappeared and he fell into a very cute position with an equally cute face.

Amazed at the change Astrid once again offered the fish. The nightfury eyed it cautiously but moved forward nonetheless. It moved quietly and carefully towards the human, as if intimidated by the tiny human before it. The dragon opened its mouth, revealing its set of pink gums once more.

"Huh." Astrid said, leaning closer to the dragon's mouth, "Toothless. I could have sworn you had-"

She was cut off as teeth popped into its mouth and it grabbed the fish, tossed into the air and gulped it down.

Even though she was shocked at the sudden display of teeth, Astrid has to admit that his way of eating was pretty impressive.

The nightfury licked its lips in happiness.

"Teeth." She breathed out.

Suddenly it's happy expression turned deadly and it slowly crept closer towards Astrid. Astrid had enough trouble walking forward, walking backwards and not falling after five steps was a gift from the gods themselves, but alas, she fell anyway and the nightfury cornered her against a rock.

"I'm sorry… Toothless." She decided that even though it was an ironic name, it was the only one she could think of.

"I don't have any more."

The nightfury stared at her with large, green eyes. Astrid stared back at him, her breath completely stolen. Its eyes were beautiful. They seemed to glow brighter than the hottest lantern, even out here in broad daylight.

Suddenly it made a strange gurgling noise.

Toothless opened his massive jaws, and out popped out a half eaten fish.

"Ew."

The nightfury fell back onto its haunches and stared at the human expectantly.

Almost instantly, Astrid knew what it wanted. Toothless gestured towards the fish, and then towards her mouth. She groaned loudly, but if this was the price to pay for a dragon friend.

So be it.

She sunk her teeth into the raw, scaly, flesh and took a bite. It tasted like an old boot, mixed with clams and something nasty. All in all, it tasted _horrible._

She held out the fish to Toothless and smiled, or tried.

Toothless swallowed and she groaned.

Figuring it would be worth it in the long run she took a deep breath through her nose, and swallowed the foul food in one gulp. A shiver ran through her body as it passed through her throat and landed in her belly.

The night fury nodded his approval and Astrid gave him a lopsided grin.

Toothless's face went from approval, to confusion as he stared at her show of emotion. His jaw twitched upwards once, then again, until eventually he had made a crooked, toothless, silly looking grin.

Amazed at it's skill of learning human traits Astrid stood up, brushed off, and held her hand out towards the night fury.

The smile faded, the teeth popped out, and within a matter of seconds Toothless had spread his wings and lopsidedly flew to the other side of the lake.

The nightfury landed, or crashed would be the correct term, on the other side, stood up, and shook itself off. It walked a few feet, stopped and let out a small stream of fire.

It walked in a circle, never letting the fire stream end. Once it had made a full circle it stopped the stream and lay down on its warm bed.

A bird chirped loudly at the sight of the dragon, abandoned its nest, and flew away. Toothless stared wistfully at the small bird as it spread its wings and flew away. That was something he would never be able to do again.

The dragon put its head down, turned sideways, only to see Astrid sitting a few feet away from him.

She waved excitedly.

Getting tired of the humans silly antics Toothless brought his hind quarters up, moved them in front of the girl and plopped back down.

Astrid however, refused to end their meeting there. "So are you a girl? Female? Whatever?"

Taking it as an insult, the dragon whipped out its tail and covered it's face with it.

"All right, boy then."

Seeing it's one tail fin, Astrid moved closer and closer. Her hand reached out to touch it, but the tail lifted itself up and glowing green eyes met hers. She quickly stood up and innocently walked away.

With a low growl Toothless got up and walked away.

* * *

A few minutes later Toothless was hanging upside down, like a bat, on a tree. His giant wings wrapped around him for warmth.

His eyes slowly blinked open and he saw the human girl a few feet away, sitting on a boulder with a stick in her hand.

Astrid was drawing.

She had always been quite adept at drawing, it was a pastime that brought her comfort after her parents died, and she was left alone.

At that moment she was sketching Toothless in the sand, and she was almost done, she just had to do the eyes. Suddenly she became aware of the dragon standing over her shoulder.

Figuring she had better hurry she quickly drew his eyes.

Taking quite a liking to the picture Toothless walked away and returned seconds later with a broken tree branch in his mouth.

He stuck it into the ground and swirled and twirled and moved up and down and side to side. As he drew the branch waved around in the air and nearly knocked Astrid off of the rock.

Finally Toothless set down the branch and made a happy growl at his work. Astrid stood up and surveyed her surroundings, just a bunch of squiggles and such, but it was pretty impressive.

Deciding to further explore the dragons "creation" she stepped forward, and unknowingly stepped on one of Toothless's lines.

The nightfury growled and Astrid instantly picked up her foot.

The dragon purred.

Confused, Astrid set her foot on the line again.

Toothless growled.

She picked up her foot.

Toothless purred.

She put her foot on the line.

He crept closer and growled.

Smirking she brought her foot off of the line and set it down again, this time on the other side. She gave the dragon a smile and continued stepping over the lines. If a passerby were to see it they would either think the girl was crazy or she was dancing, but that wasn't how Astrid saw it.

She saw it as a game, where it was just her and the dragon, there was no war, no blood between the two of them keeping them separated. It was just that, a game.

So involved in the game was she that she failed to noticed the night fury behind her until she bumped into him. She turned around slowly and met with the dragons beautiful eyes once more.

Astrid looked at the dragon with new eyes. She didn't see a mindless killing machine, she didn't see the species that killed her mother and father, but instead she saw a creature that with a little compassion might one day become a great friend.

With those thoughts in mind she reached out her hand. Despite their fun, the night fury was still wary of the girl, and shied away from her touch, her growled loudly as the girl tried to get closer.

Astrid pulled back her hand, and for a second, she was ready to give up. Turn around go home and never speak of this meeting again, but something stopped something kept her glued to that spot.

With a deep breath she reached out her hand again. Not wanting to face the dragon she shut her eyes and turned her head away.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."

Her hand lingered in the air for a second, and she waited patiently, for something, _anything, _to happen.

Then… Something _did _happen. She felt something warm and rough press against her palm and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the night furies snout pressed against her hand.

For a moment, time stopped. Her breath hitched as she stared at the creature before her. She had done the impossible, she was with a creature that could, and _would, _kill her in a heartbeat, but here it was, it's nose pressed against her bare hand, completely at peace.

Suddenly Toothless opened his eyes, saw the human staring at him, scoffed and then ran away.

* * *

(Normal HTTYD universe)

Hiccup looked up from the plate of food he had been eating.

"What's wrong?" Astrid asked, taking a sip from her cup.

"I sense a disturbance in the force…"

Astrid raised an eyebrow before warily taking the cup of mead from her boyfriend.

"That's enough drink for you…"

* * *

That night at dinner Astrid and the other teens sat around a fire, on a high tower that overlooked the entire island, literally, there were no walls to obscure their view.

Everyone decided to roast chicken, except for Astrid, who opted for the fish.

At that moment Gobber was telling the teens a story.

"And with one twist, he took my hand, and _swallowed _it whole! I saw the look on his face. I was delicious. He must have spread the word because it wasn't a month before another one of them, took my leg."

The teenagers, minus Hiccup and Astrid, all gasped in amazement.

"Isn't it weird to think you're hand was in a _dragon? _What if your brain was still in control of it? You could have killed it from the inside by, like, crushing its heart or something." Fishleggs swung his two chicken legs around, nearly slapping Hiccup in the face.

The said Viking prodigy glared before turning back to his dinner. Hiccup looked towards Tuffnut, who rolled his eyes before turning back to his food as well.

"I am so _angry _right now! I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight! With my _face!_" Snotlout hissed gripping the spike his chicken was skewered on.

Gobber shook his head, "no way! It's the wings and the tails you really want! If it can't fly, it can't get away."

Astrid's looked up, "a downed dragon, is a _dead _dragon."

Suddenly it clicked in her head. That was why Toothless couldn't get away! He was stuck in a bowl shaped clearing with _no _tail fin! He couldn't fly!

Gobber stretched and then yawned. "All right, I'm off to bed. You should be too. Tomorrow we're going after the big boys, slowly but surely making our way up to the _Monstrous Nightmare. _But who will win the honor of _killing _it?"

Tuffnut set his food down, leaned back in his seat and smirked. "It's gonna be _me! _It's my destiny! See?" He asked lifting up his shirt.

"Whoa you're mom let you get a tattoo?"

As everyone stared at Tuffnut's new "body mark" no one noticed that Astrid had disappeared, her food abandoned on the bench where she had been sitting.

"It's not a tattoo, it's a _birthmark!"_

Hiccup however, did notice, and he got up to look at the staircase leading back to the village. He caught a brief glimpse of blonde hair rushing down before it disappeared into the shadows.

A concerned look crossed over his face as his friends continued on in the background.

"Okay I've been stuck with you since _birth, _and that was _never _there before."

"Sure it was. You've just never seen me from this angle."

* * *

As the night went on Astrid cleared her desk, took out her journal and flipped to the page that she had scribbled Toothless on. She grabbed her pen and redrew the missing tail fin.

Once she was done with that she took a deep breath, shoved the book into a drawer and stood up.

She knew what needed to be done.

With incredible speed for someone so small she ran all the way to the forge and was relived to find that it was empty.

She took another deep breath, tied on her work apron, and set to work.

She heated up the metal and then hammered it into shape.

Once she had gotten the shape she wanted she blew on the red hot metal and then dipped it into a barrel of water. Once it was cool enough she set it on the table and nodded her head.

She gathered nails, and bolt's and sewed giant pieces of leather together in a strange almost semi circle pattern.

The action looked confusing, but Astrid had trained under Gobber since she was a little kid, and she knew what she was doing. Finally she slipped the final piece into place.

She held up her finished creation and nodded her satisfaction. Astrid snapped her new creation closed and stuffed it under her arm.

She set it down on the table next to her bed and then promptly fell asleep.

Happily knowing that tomorrow, Toothless would be able to try our his new tail fin.

* * *

**Wow people are uploading HTTYD stories with Hiccup and Astrid's places switched. Awesome!**

**Okay please review, I know it's very cannon but this is one of the scenes that will be very canon, the next few scenes will more than likely be less canon, trust me I have a scene that goes **_**way **_**off canon!**

**Okay, I'm done now, please review!**


	8. Tail of a Night Fury

Chapter 8

The next morning Toothless was awoken to hear something moving around.

"Hey Toothless." A singsong voice called out.

The nightfury looked up and saw the girl from yesterday walking towards him; she had a large basket slung over her shoulder, and something brown tucked under her arm.

"I brought you a little something! I really hope you're hungry!" She said setting down the basket and tipping it over.

To the night furies delight fish spilled out of the basket and he dove his head into the pile and began to gobble up every morsel.

"Okay, that's disgusting. There's some salmon, some nice Icelandic cod, and a whole _smoked eel."_

Toothless jerked his head away from the pile of fish and growled loudly. Confused, Astrid reached in and brought up a yellow and black striped eel. She held it up to the night fury and he recoiled in fear.

He let out a roar and Astrid jumped back in fear. "No? No, no, no! Don't panic!" She threw the offending sea creature into the lake.

The dragon calmed and stared at her expectantly. Astrid wiped her hand on her shirt, "yeah I don't like eel much either."

Still suspicious Toothless poked his head into the basket and, deeming it safe, began to eat his fill once more.

Astrid, cradling the makeshift tail she had created, slowly began to creep behind the giant dragon, all the while whispering softly to it.

"Yeah, good boy, only eat the good stuff. Don't mind me, I'll just be back here."

Toothless, completely oblivious to the human, continued with his meal. Obviously content with his ignorance, Astrid quietly crept behind him and walked up to his massive tail. She slowly put down her creation and reached for his tail, as soon as her fingers grazed it, Toothless moved.

She looked over at the night fury in alarm, only to see him edging closer to the basket. Rolling her eyes she set back to her work, but just like the first time as soon as she touched it, Toothless would move.

After this action had been repeated several times Astrid finally gave in, grabbed the night furies tail, and sat on it to keep it still. Satisfied that he would not move as much anymore she quickly grabbed her invention, brought it closer and strapped it onto his tail.

At that moment Toothless had just finished his meal and was shaking the basket off of his head. Once it was successfully off he noticed something different on his tail. He knew a part of it had gone missing, but now it felt as if it was still there. Realization dawned onto him and began to spread his giant wings.

Meanwhile Astrid was observing Toothless's new, artificial, tail fin. She smiled and opened it up a little more, "not to bad, it works!"

It was basically a replica of his old tail fin, but instead of being black, it was brown.

She was so busy admiring her work that she failed to notice that his wings were spreading farther and farther out, until a moment too late. Without warning Toothless took off into the air, dragging a screaming, terrified Astrid with him. The blonde clung to his tail, screaming at the nightfury to stop flying.

Suddenly without warning Toothless began to loose altitude, thinking quickly Astrid looked at the prosthetic tail she made, saw that it didn't match how the other tail fin looked, and pulled hard on it so that it _did _match.

Immediately Toothless regained control of his flight and began to soar upwards once more. Astrid laughed loudly in achievement, "It's working! Oh Odin, it's _working._"

Toothless dived back down into the gulch and glided over the large lake. Astrid stared at her invention in amazement, all the while laughing as she did.

"Yes, yes! I did it!"

Waves of pride swept through her and she blinked away a tear of happiness. She had done it! She had created something, not only useful, but something that worked!

Toothless, having heard her laughter and yelling looked back and scowled at the human. Figuring he no longer needed her he quickly whipped his tail to the side and Astrid was thrown off of him and had only a second to prepare before she hit the icy water.

Deeming himself a free dragon Toothless began to fly away, but without Astrid's help he couldn't control his new prosthetic, and crashed face first into the lake.

He growled lightly in annoyance as he resurfaced.

Astrid meanwhile was on the other side of the lake, jumping up and down on the floor, and splashing water in happiness. She threw her hands up into the air and yelled in victory, "Yeah!"

'_There's a lot of kinks to it, but I'll work that out tomorrow.' _She thought to herself as she dried off.

She was just about to head off to dragon training, when something stopped her. Rushing back to the lake she fished out the smoked eel and stuffed it into the pouch on her hip, she would use it later.

* * *

"Today is about teamwork. Now, a wet dragonhead can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, the other head, _lights _it. You job is to know _which _is _which._" Gobber instructed as he walked around the ring.

A large door flew open and dust flew out. It filled up the arena and obstructed everyone's view. The teens were all paired up into groups of two, and were each given buckets filled with water.

Tuffnut was with Snotlout, Hiccup was with Ruffnut, and Astrid was with Fishleggs.

Astrid gripped her bucket to her chest and she Fishleggs stood back to back.

"Razor-sharp serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. It prefers ambush attack, crushing its victims-"

"Will you please stop that?" Astrid snapped in half annoyance and half fear.

Meanwhile Tuffnut and Snotlout were a few feet away. Tuffnut was snickering, but Snotlout was freaking out, but still trying to act cool.

"If that dragon shows either of his faces, I'm gonna… There!" He yelled pointing at a shadow in the dust.

Thinking it was the dragon; the two boys threw their water at it, but only succeeded in getting both Ruffnut and Hiccup wet.

"Hey!" Hiccup exclaimed shaking out his now damp hair.

"It's _us _idiots!" Ruffnut snapped.

"Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were a dragon." Tuffnut said, snickering at his own wit.

Snotlout panicked and tried to mend his friend's remark. "Not that there's anything wrong with a dragonesque figure." He said to his cousin.

Without a second though Hiccup brought his arm back and slammed his fist into Snotlout's face, knocking him to the ground. Ruffnut meanwhile, opted to throw her bucket at Tuffnut, knocking _him_ to the ground. He wearily sat up and was about to yell at his sister, when he was suddenly pulled back, his helmet falling off in the process.

Worried about her brother Ruffnut rushed forward, but sensing something was wrong, Hiccup put an arm out.

"Wait."

He lifted up his bucket, ready to throw it either on, or at the dragon, but his efforts were in vain because as soon as he did a giant tail swooped out, caught both him and Ruffnut and swept them off their feet. They both screamed in surprise and Hiccup dropped his bucket to the ground.

At that moment Tuffnut ran out, clutching his face and yelling, "Oh, I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!"

Fishleggs looked at Astrid with a worried expression, "chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now."

Astrid nodded her agreement, when at that moment she noticed the dust was clearing out, "we should be able to see-"

She as cut off as a head and a long neck emerged from the dust and snapped at Fishleggs. Freaking out Fishleggs backed up, but the dragonhead chased it, remembering his bucket he quickly threw it on its head. The Zippleback coughed once, shook itself dry and it's mouth filled with gas.

Panic welled up in the large boy as he said, "Oh. Wrong head."

Gas spewed out of the head and Fishleggs ran for his life.

"Fishleggs!" Gobber yelled in fear.

Astrid, realizing she was the only one left in the ring looked up and saw the second head of the Zippleback staring right at her. A few sparks went off in its mouth and she stepped back in fear. The two heads glared at her tiny frame and she began to panic.

"Astrid! Now!" Gobber yelled at his apprentice.

She attempted to throw the water, but her arms were too small and the water simply splashed around her feet. Seeing her failure, the Zippleback smirked before edging closer to the girl.

"Oh, come on!" She yelled.

The dust cleared away completely and the dragon was fully revealed. It spread its wings out and roared. Astrid fell back and dropped her bucket on the floor. Hiccup watched in horror as the dragons mouthed inched closer to her body.

"Astrid run!" He and Gobber yelled.

They took one step forward ready to save the poor girl, until something stopped them in their tracks.

Astrid was slowly getting back on her feet, and the dragon was backing away in fear. It screeched as her hands crept closer. The young prodigy watched in a mixture of amazement, confusion, and happiness as the girl before him bravely held out her hands, and the dragon tripped over itself in fear.

"Back, back, back! Now, don't you make me tell you again! Yeah, I thought so. Get _back _into your cage! Now don't you make me tell you again!"

As she did this the village elder, Gothil, watched in amazement.

"Now think about what you've done." She said slyly, reaching into her pouch and pulled out the smoked eel. She tossed it into the cage with the Zippleback and it clung desperately to the wall, whimpering in fear.

With a content smile Astrid closed the giant doors and made sure it was locked tightly. She brushed her hands together and smirked at her cleverness.

She was just about to leave when suddenly she heard someone cough. She turned towards the other teens and saw them all staring at her. Fishleggs dropped his bucket in amazement.

"Well!" She said awkwardly, "Are we done? Because I've got somewhere I need to… Yep! I'll see you later!" She then rushed off without a glance back.

Hiccup stared after her, shook his head and then trudged home.

* * *

**Yay it's done! I'm almost to the dramatic parts! Trust me it will soon get better, just stick with me!**


	9. Expressive Denial

**Okay, before you read, I want you to know that this is an extra chapter, this is just thrown in here to take it off canon, and I thought it would fit into the story to better explain Hiccup's attitude in the later chapters.**

**If you think this could have waited well then wait until I update the chapter you think it was appropriate for me to update it (this chapter) come back and then read it.**

**If that's confusing than oh well, my Microsoft word says it makes sense so nerf!**

**For your information this takes place the very next morning after Astrid build's Toothless a tail and scared the Hideous Zippleback back into it's cage. At the moment she and the other teens are getting breakfast.**

**LISTEN TO THIS SONG WHILE LISTENING! http:/ youtube .com/ watch?v=GSmhfGrHdS0**

**If that doesn't work type in "The Cheetah Girls- I won't say (I'm in love)**

**Don't like it? Don't read it, just skip this and wait for the next chapter.**

**

* * *

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Chapter 9

"Come on Hiccup admit it! You like her, don't you?" Tuffnut asked the teen prodigy one day as they ate breakfast.

The Viking in question choked on the cup of mead he had been drinking and hacked the liquid out of his throat and back into his cup.

Ruffnut grimaced before knocking the cup onto the floor. Hiccup slapped a hand to his face at his friend's stupidity. "Ruffnut." He said slowly, "You do realize that knocking the cup off the table just makes a _bigger _mess right?"

The female twin paled and then quickly scooted away, eyeing the sword always attached to Hiccup's waist. Hiccup sighed before turning away from his friend. At that moment the large door to the Meade Hall was thrown open and Astrid came tumbling inside. Immediately the twins snapped their heads around to look at Hiccup's reaction and they smirked.

His emerald green eyes were completely focused on the blonde klutz in front of them. His expression wasn't one of total obsession, lust, or anything of the sort, rather his eyes held a small gleam.

It was a spark, a spark of interest. Tuff elbowed Snotlout in the rib cage and the other teen grabbed his side in pain, "ow! What are you?"

He was cut off as Tuff pointed at Hiccup, whose eyes were following Astrid as she got her food and sat down at a table far away.

Confused as his cousin's actions Snotlout elbowed Hiccup in the rib cage. The prodigy gave a short yelp of pain before punching his cousin hard on the arm.

"_That's _for hitting me!" He wound up again and socked him in the face, "and _that's, _for _everything else."_

_

* * *

_

(Normal HTTYD universe)

Astrid stopped her dragon in mid flight, causing Hiccup and Toothless to nearly crash into her.

"What's wrong?" He asked, confused.

"I sense a disturbance in the force…" She said rubbing her arm.

Hiccup laughed loudly before yelling down to the village below, "Ha! I WIN THE BET SNOTLOUT!"

* * *

Snotlout rubbed his sore jaw and stared at his cousin in shock, "dude what the Hel?"

Hiccup snorted before sharply turning around to glare at the wall. The twins and Fishleggs snickered quietly to themselves, praying to the gods that Hiccup wouldn't hear them, but alas, he did.

"What are _you _laughing at?" He asked, venom practically oozing from his voice.

The three teenagers shut their mouths and whistled innocently.

Hiccup growled to himself before turning around once again. What was wrong with him? He was so wound up!

'_Was it because Astrid bested the Zippleback and I __**didn't**__?' _He quickly pushed the thought out of his mind.

Sure, Hiccup had always been jumpy around Astrid, mainly because everything she touched would break, but he had always liked her company. Sure she was crazy, clumsy, and down right terrible at being a Viking, but she was quick witted, and Hiccup admired that. In addition to that she was crazy enough to make a day interesting, but sane enough to not go completely overboard, not to mention the _one _Viking trait she had acquired.

Stubbornness.

Hiccup was well aware that Astrid could put up a verbal fight with a bull and win. In fact the only person in the village who could out match her stubborn qualities was Hiccup, which is why he was easily able to get her to join Dragon Training. In all honesty his father only _mentioned _that he would like Astrid to take Dragon Training, but Stoic brushed it off.

The teenager, however, saw this as an opportunity for the poor girl, and raced out the minute she walked by his house. He gave her a shield and invited her to dragon training, saying it would be good for her to learn how _not _to get killed. He had told her that Stoic ordered her too, but that was a lie, Astrid could have stayed out of Dragon Training, but Hiccup said otherwise.

While he thought about that the cruel words he had said to Astrid floated back into his mind.

_"What is wrong with you? Not only did you nearly get yourself killed again, but also managed to destroy my mother's axe! Astrid that was the last thing, probably the only thing she gave me! That weapon was special to me! When she was lying there, burned to a crisp, she handed me that axe and said, 'make me proud.' And another thing! You act as if this is some kind of joke! I'm sick and tired of it! Our parent's war is about to become ours. Figure out whose side you're on."_

He chewed his lip thoughtfully as he remembered what he had yelled at her. He had said it with the intention of making her realize how serious this training was. He knew that whenever their parents went out to fight, they were fighting not only to secure their livestock, but also to protect their children. If they succeeded in training, their parents wouldn't have to worry about them so much. Suddenly it clicked.

Astrid _couldn't _understand she had no parents fighting to keep her alive. She had no family; she was a lonely soul drifting in a vast ocean called life.

"Hiccup. Hiccup. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third!"

The said teen snapped his head around and glared at the annoying voice that was calling his name. His eyes landed on Tuffnut and he glared harder. If looks could kill, Tuff would have been on the floor, dead as a doornail.

"Oh, you're alive. Sorry, you were like really quiet, where are you going?" He asked when he saw Hiccup stand up.

"Somewhere." He replied before walking away.

* * *

Astrid was twirling her food around her plate with her fork, thinking of new way to improve Toothless's tail fin when suddenly she heard someone sit in front of her.

Without even looking up to see who had sat down she sighed, "Hey Gobber. Time for training?"

"No, and I'm not Gobber. I don't sound _that _heavy sitting down do I?"

Astrid dropped her fork and her head shot up and she fell out of her chair in shock. Hiccup leaned over the table and stared at her in concern, "Are you okay?"

He held out his hand and she took it in hers. "Thanks." She said once she was back in her seat.

The Hofferson girl put her head down in embarrassment. Her face was beet red and her mind raced to figure out what was going on. Hiccup _never _sat with her, heck half of Berk did all they could to _avoid_ her!

"Astrid? Did I do something wrong? Is this your way of telling me I sat over here for nothing?"

She quickly looked up and shook her head, "no! It's fine! I'm just…" She trailed off.

"Shocked? Confused? Both?" He asked, smirking slightly.

"Why are you sitting here?" She asked suddenly.

"If you don't like my company you can just tell me."

"No it's just. I'm… not one of you guys. I'm different, I'm a toothpick with legs, I'm as klutzy as a dragon with one wing, I'm-"

"Okay I'm going to stop you right there. Yes, you're right, you're different; but hey, lookat me. I'm different."

Astrid stared at him before turning bright red, but she had to admit. Hiccup was on the scrawny side; in fact he was skinnier than Astrid was!

She dropped her head onto the table, "yeah but you can hold your own in a fight. I can't."

"That's why you're in dragon training. To get better." He brushed a strand of hair away from her face, "there's hope for you Astrid."

Then he did something surprising. He _smiled. _Astrid nearly fainted; she hadn't seen Hiccup smile since they were kids. Hiccup used to _always _smile, until his mother died right in front of him, after that his smile became so rare that if you ever saw it, you should consider yourself lucky, and Astrid did.

Suddenly the smile faded, and he quickly retracted his hand from her face. Without warning he quickly stood up from his chair, his face cherry red, "I gotta go. See you later Astrid."

With that said he rushed out of the room, and slammed the door behind him.

Astrid brushed her fingers against the spot on her face that he had touched her and smiled shyly.

'_There's hope for you Astrid.'_

_

* * *

_

Hiccup angrily swung his sword around, cursing loudly as he did so. Any Vikings that were awake at this hour were wise enough to know that it was best to avoid him.

"What is _wrong _with me?" He asked, slamming his sword into the ground and leaning on it.

"Well for one you're completely terrorizing the village."

Hiccup looked up to see the other teens walking towards him.

Tuffnut slightly nudge his friend, "come on Hic admit it. You like _her._" Tuff grabbed Hiccup's face and forced it to turn towards the Meade hall, where Astrid was standing.

Hiccup pushed his friend away in annoyance, "I do _not."_

"Uh, yeah you do. Why else would you just run over and sit next to her?" Ruffnut asked, poking him in the ribs.

"Because I was giving her advice." He stated simply.

"De_nial._" Each teen, minus Snotlout, chorused.

"Hiccup come on every time you look at her you get this goofy grin." He then tried to imitate his friend, but failed miserably.

"I _do not!"_ Hiccup shouted, alarming a few passing Vikings.

He ducked his head and blushed bright red. He glared at his friends, picked up his sword and began walking away, but they were persistent, and followed him anyway.

"Come on Hiccup just tell us if you like her!"

Hiccup turned around and glared at them, "I do _not _love her!"

The twins snickered, "we didn't say anything about _l-o-v… _something!"

Hiccup flushed bright red and Snotlout stepped forward.

"Hey cuz come on. If you have a crush on the _troll-_"

"The _troll _has a name." Hiccup snapped.

Snotlout stepped back, "okay, okay. If you have a crush on _Astrid." _He said her name as if there were something rotten in his mouth, "just tell us!"

"Oh for the love of Thor! No! I do _not _like Astrid! I _cannot _like Astrid! All right? So get off my back! Besides even if I _did _like her I'd never _say_ anything out _loud_! My number one goal is to be the best dragon killer in the world, I don't need _girlfriends _getting in my way!"

He swiped his sword in front of him for emphasis, "now if you even _think _of asking me a question as stupid as that again, I will _be very _upset, and you guys remember what happened the last time you got me upset?"

They all shrunk back and nodded quickly, terrified of the tiny Viking.

"Good, now I'm going to go train. I'll see you at Dragon Training." He then quickly sprinted away.

As he made it to the arena he stopped, put a hand over his racing heart, and to it's beat he chanted, _'I don't love Astrid, I don't love Astrid, I don't love Astrid.'_

_

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**Viking pride. What are ye gonna do?**


	10. Turn for the Best

Chapter 10

That night Astrid could be seen in the forge once more, wiping down a large piece of leather. She laid it on the floor and smiled at the saddle she made and proudly held it up to the dragon the next morning, and despite her obvious excitement the dragon wasn't all to happy with it and ran away from Astrid at top speeds.

"Hey! You come back here!"

Once she had finally managed to get the saddle on the nightfury they took off once more, this time she had brought a long wire with her. She connected one end of the long wire to Toothless's prosthetic tail fin and held the other end in one hand. They began flying and they were doing pretty well. As they flew Astrid tugged on the wire, but it threw off the dragons tail and the both fell into the lake.

The next day Astrid tried a different technique. She tied the wire around her foot, leaving her hands free, and used a flexible string that she tied to the saddle and then attached to her belt loop, securing her place in the saddle. Unfortunately her leg was flying everywhere as she tried to control his tail find, and soon they crashed into a patch of tall grass.

Astrid flew off her friend's saddle and rushed around in the grass looking for him. She heard a low growling and rushed towards it.

She raised an eyebrow in confusion when she finally found the large, black dragon. Toothless was on his back and was rolling around in the grass, in love with its scent. Astrid picked up a few stray blades and smiled.

Toothless meanwhile was rolling around in ecstasy this stuff was _fantastic! _It smelled simply divine and it made his entire body feel like it was floating on the world's softest pillow. It was the closest thing he had ever felt to Valhalla.

* * *

The next day at dragon training Astrid was gripping the strange grass in her hand and watched in fear, as Snotlout was head butted out of the arena by a pissed off Gronckle. Seeing that she was the only one left, the Gronckle charged at the small Hofferson girl.

She gulped loudly, held up her fistful of grass and shoved it by the Gronkle's nose. It's heavenly scent danced in his large nostrils and his eyes widened in glee.

Happy with her success she rubbed it against his snout and he fell sideways in ecstasy, "good dragon." She whispered before throwing it the rest of the grass.

A few feet above the elder watched her with growing interest. _'There may be hope for this one yet.' _She thought.

As the teens were walking out of training they were all surrounding Astrid in excitement. Fishleggs, the twins, and Snotlout were all huddled around Astrid, Hiccup hung in the back, his mind far away.

"How did you do that?" Asked Fishleggs, completely amazed.

Tuffnut pushed past him, "I know! I've never seen a Gronckle _do _that. You have to teach me what you-"

"Oh, I left my axe at the ring! Clumsy me, I'll just go get it." She quickly turned on her heel; "I'll see you guys tonight." She called over her shoulder.

Astrid slipped away and crashed right into Hiccup, they both grunted at the sudden contact.

"Sorry." They both muttered before quickly walking off in different directions.

The other teenagers looked at each other strangely before following after Hiccup's retreating form.

* * *

Astrid ran into the clearing and waved at the waiting Night Fury. He wagged his tail happily at the sight of her and she laughed. He pranced over to her and sniffed her torso. She scratched his head and laughed again.

"Sorry buddy, no fish today, but I bet you like being scratched right?" She asked, scratching his sides.

Toothless purred as a response. Astrid moved her hands up and down the reptile's body, scratching at every open space. Her hands fell to his neck and the dragon dropped to the floor, fast asleep. The girl stared at her hands in amazement.

* * *

The next day in training, Hiccup lunged at a Deadly Nadder only to be knocked to the side by it's snout. The beautiful dragon looked to the side and ran at quickly towards Astrid.

Suddenly terrified, the girl backed away, dropping her weapon in the process. Seeing her distress Hiccup scrambled to his feet picked up his sword and rushed towards the creature with a loud battle cry.

Scared about the dragon's safety Astrid quickly scratched its neck and it hit the ground, out cold. Hiccup screeched to a halt in front of the dragon, dropped his sword in shock and stared at her dumbly.

She waved shyly, but he just continued to stare in disbelief. Finally he spun on his heel and angrily walked home.

When night fell Astrid walked into the Meade hall, grabbed her food and sat at an empty table. Seeing her walk in, a large group of Vikings flocked to her side and immediately began praising her. The twins pushed past Hiccup as they scrambled to be first to talk to Astrid.

He rubbed his shoulder, and stared at the giant crowd gathered around Astrid. Jealousy was quickly building in him, he knew he shouldn't be jealous, it was childish, and he didn't like acting like a giant baby. He found this new attitude greatly confusing, he never gave in to things as pitiful as _jealousy, _but it just couldn't be helped.

Dark thoughts swirled in his head; suspicion rose in him like a giant tidal wave, Astrid was _terrible _in training! So why was she suddenly the best? It defied all logic!

'_There's something going on.'_

He slammed his cup down in frustration before stalking out of the building, the building shook as he slammed the door.

Astrid shivered as Hiccup slammed the giant door. She would have chased after him, but she was trapped in a crowd, and she couldn't get out.

* * *

The next day Astrid had brought her hammer with her, hoping to adjust Toothless's saddle, but when the light glinted off the shiny tool a tiny spot of light was reflected onto the grass. Like a giant cat Toothless leapt after it.

Amused at her friend's antics Astrid began turning the hammer this way and that, making him chase the beam of light around.

She was rewarded with an excited night fury running around the entire clearing.

* * *

Come noon Astrid was standing in a line with the other teenagers. They were all watching Gobber expectantly as he marched back and forth.

"All right! I want you all to meet the Terrible Terror!" A small door flipped open and a very tiny dragon popped out.

It was had a green body, dark brown horns that were bent this way and that, and large eyes that never ceased roaming. It looked up at that teens, stuck out its tongue, and licked its eyeball a seemingly impossible move, but somehow the Terror pulled it off.

Tuffnut threw his head back and laughed, "Look at it! It's the size of my-"

The other teens never heard exactly _what_ part of Tuffnut's body was the same size as a Terror, because the said dragon lunged at his face, knocked him to the ground, and began biting the boy's nose.

Remembering what Toothless had done earlier that same day, Astrid moved into the sunlight. The light reflected off her shield and, seeing the beam of light on the ground, the Terror leaped off of Tuffnut and chased after the light.

"Oh, I am hurt! I am _very _much hurt!" The twin shouted, clutching his nose in pain.

Astrid moved the beam closer towards the door. Still entranced by the light, the Terror followed it without doubt until eventually it was back in it's cage. Realizing it had been tricked, the Terror clawed at the tiny door in anger, but Astrid had already locked him inside, and he couldn't get out.

Getting back on his feet Tuffnut walked up behind Hiccup, "Wow man, she's better than you _ever _were."

Anger flared inside the small teen and he whirled around in anger. He stomped towards the blonde male and Tuff backed away in fear.

"You're asking for it aren't you?" Hiccup asked, glaring daggers at Tuffnut.

"Hey man, come on! I was only kidding! Not the face!"

* * *

After the others had pried a kicking and screaming Hiccup off of Tuffnut they had stood their ground and pointed in the woods.

"Go cool off!" They had all screamed as one.

Glaring at them, he grabbed his sword and began practicing his sword moves on a tree.

He was feeling more relaxed now and was actually glad his friends had told him to go into the forest. He drove his sword into a tree and gave a victorious smirk, "dead as a door nail."

"So _this _is what you do in your free time."

Hiccup spun on his heel and came face to face with Astrid, who was carrying a small brown bundle under her arm.

"Where are you going?"

Immediately Astrid went into the defense, "oh you know, somewhere."

"Well I've never been to _somewhere. _Mind if I come with you?" He asked, tugging his sword out of the tree.

"Sure! If you can follow me, you can come with me." Then without another word she took off into the woods.

Hiccup only took a second to admire her speed before taking off after her. He rounded a corner, looked around and saw no sign of Astrid.

He slammed his sword back into the ground, his anger and jealousy rebuilding.

"How the hell is she _faster _than me?" He swore loudly, turned around, and then stomped back to the village.

Behind a nearby tree Astrid giggled, "I'm not faster, just smarter!" Then she took off towards the clearing.

* * *

As soon as she reached her dragon she gave him his dinner, and while he was eating she hooked up a wire from his prosthetic tail, ran it up the side of his body, and attached it to the stirrups for her feet.

It was her new invention; she had created two feet holders that were able to control his tail fin. When _her _foot moved, _his __**tail fin **_moved.

She pulled him out of the canyon and tethered him to a pole she had set up on a large hill. The wind was pretty strong here, so she was confident she could test out her invention here. Toothless spread his wings and they were lifted off the floor.

She flicked her ankle into a certain position, and as she did so the tail fin moved into a different position. Smiling at their success Toothless landed and Astrid quickly sketched down the position of the tail, then the position her feet were in.

Suddenly, and without warning, the wind picked up and the two were blown away. They landed in a thorn bush and Astrid painfully picked a thorn out of her arm.

Toothless shook himself off and stood up, dragging Astrid with him. The girl yelped in surprise and saw that her belt was stuck to the saddle. She tugged at the rope but it refused to budge.

"Perfect." She replied sarcastically.

She looked up at the sky and saw that dark was approaching fast. The only solution would be for her to run back to the village, dragon in tow, and cut the string.

Astrid groaned in annoyance before she began tugging on the his saddle, "come on, I need to get out of this thing."

When they had finally reached the Village it was dark out, and there were only a few villagers out. A Viking on guard noticed Astrid leaning against a house. He thought she was simply relaxing, when in reality she was hiding a giant Night Fury behind her back.

"Get some sleep Astrid. It's getting late." He said kindly, and then began walking away.

She smiled and nodded respectfully, "of course!"

As soon as he was out of sight she slipped away from the house and pulled a confused Toothless out of the shadows. "Come on boy, almost there!"

Toothless had never been so close to the village before, so everything around him was very distracting, and Astrid wasn't too happy about it. She tugged at his saddle and they began jogging towards the forge. Astrid quietly swung open the doors and the dragon silently crept into the small smithy.

Astrid quickly grabbed a knife and began sawing away at the stubborn rope. As she did this, Toothless stuck his head in a bucket and flipped it over in curiosity, it fell off his snout and clatter noisily to the floor.

Hiccup, who had been passing by at the time, heard the noise and quickly began walking towards the shop.

"Astrid? Are you okay?"

The blonde stopped her sawing and began to panic. She quickly tied on her apron to hide the belt connected to her dragon before quickly rushing out the door and slamming it behind her.

She smiled shyly and nervously brushed a strand of hair away from her face, "hey Hiccup! What's up? Is something wrong? What are you doing here? Is that a new vest?"

He raised an eyebrow at her strange attitude.

"Okay, as son of the chief it's my job to notice when people do strange things!"

Astrid blushed, "do you find me strange Hiccup?"

At that moment Toothless saw a sheep eating a grass a few feet away. He took a step forward and Astrid was pulled back.

Hiccup jumped at the sudden movement, "yeah. I _do _find you strange. Especially this past week, you're not acting like yourself, and I'm starting to get suspicious."

Toothless moved closer to the sheep once more and Astrid was yanked towards the door once more. She giggled nervously, crossed her arms and tapped her chin.

"Suspicious?" She asked as she was once again pulled to the door, "Why would you be suspicious?"

He was just about to mention the fact that something was pulling her towards the shop, but as soon as he opened his mouth Astrid was suddenly pulled into the room.

He rushed forward, threw open the doors and found it empty.

"Astrid?"

As he searched around in the shop, he failed to notice Astrid sitting atop Toothless as they both slipped away into the night.

* * *

Early the next morning the ships returned. Most, if not all, the ships were ruined beyond repair, the sails were ripped, there were holes in the wooden body, and the Vikings on board were beaten and exhausted.

Stoic steered his boat to the dock and was greeted by Gobber, who helped his friend onto solid land.

Stoic angrily began walking forward, "I trust ye' found the nest at least?" Gobber asked hopefully.

The chief growled, "not even close."

Gobber sighed, "of course."

As they walked down the harbor Stoic turned to his friend, still slightly angry, "I hope you had more luck than I did."

"Well, I guess you could say that."

At that moment a line of Vikings ran towards the chief, all shouting in excitement.

"Congratulations Stoic, we're all _so _relieved!" A woman said.

"Out with the old, in with the new right?"

"No one will miss that old klutz!"

"The Village is throwing a village to celebrate!"

The chief turned to his friend, confusion and shock written across his face. "Astrid. She's gone?"

Gobber gave his friend and equally confused face, "well, yeah. Most afternoons, but I mean who can blame her? She can't even pass through the village without Vikings _swarming _after her in admiration!"

Stoic stopped in his tracks, grabbed Gobber's shoulder and made his friend look him in the eye. "Astrid? Astrid Hofferson? Blonde girl, scrawny, this tall, blue eyes?"

The black smith nodded, "Who would have guessed she'd end up as good as her mother? Oh Stoic, you should have _seen _her with that Nadder! It passed out in front of her, and the way she _terrified _that Zippleback. Her parents would have been _so proud _of her!"

Shock and disbelief washed over Stoic and he turned towards the village.

"Tonight, I think I'll pay her a visit. For now, I think I'll go visit my son."


	11. I never want to see you again

**Hola! Okay, if you guys are confused about Hiccup's little "his father didn't really **_**force Astrid **_**to join dragon training…" thing than I'm here to explain.**

**Okay, so basically Stoic had told Hiccup about the possibility of Astrid being put in dragon training, but he thought it was terrible idea, so he didn't really agree with her going, but he didn't object either. So Hiccup pushed it that little extra mile and made her go to dragon training. So yeah, Hiccup may be a jerk, but he's the reason she's there so…**

**I saw the awesome reaction that my "original" chapter got so I figured I'd give it another shot, only thing is that this chapter changes a lot (hopefully) in the following chapters.**

**And I'm sorry if Hiccup's being a bit to "obvious" but hey. Cut me some slack.**

**And help out the newbie, what is an AU? And another thing! What does OC stand for? I know what it is but what does it stand for what's the definition of the acronym?**

**Anyway, ONTO THE STORY!**

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Chapter 11

Hiccup held his sword in his left hand, and had his shield strapped onto his right arm. He swung sideways at Snotlout, who dodged. Snotlout brought up his hammer with intense speed and brought it down on his cousin's head. Quick as lightning, Hiccup brought up his shield and blocked his cousin's attack. His tiny form shook at the sheer pressure, but he recovered quickly, using his shield, he threw Snotlout's arm to the left and the weapon flew out of his hand.

Snotlout only had a second to blink before a sword was thrust at his neck. The brunette quickly dropped his shield and threw up his hands in surrender.

"I give!" He said weakly.

Smirking at his victory Hiccup removed the offending weapon and un-strapped his shield. He held out his hand and Snotlout shook it firmly.

"Good job." They both said at the same time.

Suddenly they heard someone laugh and the turned around to see Stoic the Vast.

Hiccup dropped his sword and ran up to his father.

"Dad you're back! When did you get here?" Hiccup asked, excited that his father had finally returned.

Stoic laughed, "I just got back, I decided to visit you and see how you were doing. I see you haven't lost your touch! Maybe Gobber was fibbin' about Astrid again!"

A dark shadow crossed over Hiccup's face at the mention of the Hofferson girl. Seeing his cousins attitude change Snotlout quickly backed away.

"Dude, if you're going to flip out like you did last time go into the forest before it's too late!"

Hiccup shot his cousin the meanest glare he could muster before grabbing his sword and slipping it into its sheath.

"No, I am _calm._" He said through gritted teeth.

"Oh yeah?" Snotlout used all of his strength to rip off a small piece of his shield.

He held it out to his cousin, "hold this."

Hiccup took the chunk of wood and it was crushed in his fist. He opened his palm and nothing but saw dust was left. He blew angrily and then wiped his hands on his vest.

"That only proves I'm strong."

"_No _it proves you're angry."

"It does not!" He screeched.

Stoic stared at his son in shock. Hiccup rarely got angry, well he did, but never like this! Obviously, something was upsetting him.

"Son, do you want to talk? It seems like something's bothering you."

"I'm fine dad." He muttered quietly.

"He's in denial!" Ruffnut sang out as she entered the ring.

Hiccup glared at his friend, "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't say that anymore!"

"In denial about what?" Stoic asked, confused beyond repair.

"That's he's in _love _with Astrid!"

Hiccup's cheeks burned a vibrant red and he glared at Ruffnut, "I've told you guys _a thousand _times. I don't like Astrid like _that!_"

If Stoic was confused before, he was ten times more confused now. So his son, _his _son, liked Astrid Hofferson? _Astrid _Hofferson? What was the world coming to?

"Wait! Stop everything." He turned to his son, "Hiccup, do you like Astrid Hofferson?"

"_No! _Dad, my only goal right now is to be the best so I don't let down my tribe when I become chief. That's all I want! I don't _want _to think about girl friend's right now!"

A small smile spread onto the chief's face at his son's answer and he threw his arm around his son and laughed.

"Of course! Come on son; let's go get something to eat. I'm _starved!_"

Hiccup rolled his eyes, "I'm sure you are dad."

He looked over his shoulder and glared at Ruffnut and Snotlout, his green eyes saying _'you got off lucky.'_

The two teens shivered as they watched him leave and turned to each other fearfully once he was out of sight.

"You don't think he's going to kill me tonight right?" Ruff asked, fear obvious in her voice.

"I suggest hiding now."

Ruffnut gave a small sound of terror as Snotlout patted her back reassuringly, "well, it was nice knowing you Ruff."

* * *

Stoic and Hiccup sat across from each other in the Meade hall. Stoic was busy feeding his hungry belly and Hiccup was turned the other way, his arms crossed and his eyes closed in concentration.

At that moment the door to the hall was thrown open and Astrid strode in, probably getting herself lunch.

Hiccup's eyes opened at her loud entrance, and just like last time, his eyes followed her every move.

The big chief noticed his son's behavior and was greatly confused.

After getting her food Astrid sat down at a nearby table. She looked up from her plate and waved happily at Hiccup, he grinned and waved back.

Happy with the response Astrid turned away from him and focused on her lunch.

His grin faded and he sharply turned away from her, as if she didn't exist, and he hadn't just smiled at her.

Stoic's eyes darted between the two teens in confusion. Hiccup said he _didn't _like Astrid, but was that true? Or was Ruffnut right and he was in denial about it? Either way, Stoic didn't like it. He didn't mind if Hiccup _did _indeed turn out liking Astrid, but he wasn't okay with his son _lying _to him about it.

"Son." Stoic started, wiping grease off his face, "are you sure you don't want to talk about something?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Just eat your lunch."

"Hiccup, you can tell-"

Hiccup stood up from his seat, turned around and glared at his father, "I am _fine, _and I'm sorry but people constantly pestering me about this is _not _helping! I do _not _like Astrid okay? I didn't like her when we were kids, and I don't like her now! All right? I could care less about her!"

Suddenly there was a loud crash behind him and he turned around to see Astrid standing there, her empty plate on the floor in front of them. Hiccup froze in place, she had _heard._

If he didn't feel like a jerk before, he certainly did now.

Tears filled Astrid's eyes and with unknown strength she pushed Hiccup backwards.

"You don't like _me? _Well I don't like _you!_" She kicked her plate at him, "thank for _nothing _Hiccup!"

With that said she turned around and flew from the room, crying.

"Astrid wait! I'm sorry!" He shouted running after her.

* * *

Astrid ran until she entered the forest, where she collapsed against a tree. Tears poured down her face and she tried to quickly wipe them away, she was a Viking now! She couldn't cry!

But the tears refused to stop. She leaned against the scratchy tree as she continued to cry. Astrid knew Hiccup didn't like her the way she liked him, but she thought they were at least _friends._

"Astrid!"

The blonde girl turned around to see Hiccup running towards her. When he finally reached her Astrid was beyond crying, she was now sobbing uncontrollably. He touched her shoulder and she ripped away from him.

"Astrid I am so sorry! I didn't mean what I-"

"So why did you say it?" She asked, anger obvious in her voice.

"I didn't mean it like-"

"I don't want to hear it. You know, we may not be the closest of people, but I thought we were at least _friends, _but I guess I was wrong!" She harshly turned around and began to stalk away.

Hiccup chased after her again, "Astrid please, just give me one minute-"

Astrid turned around, fire burning in her eyes. Then, it happened. It was so fast that Hiccup didn't even see it coming; he only felt the searing pain growing on his cheek. Astrid had pulled back her arm, and slapped him right across the face.

The red head stared at her in shock and disbelief. Astrid had just _slapped _him!

A sad expression crossed his face; it wasn't what she did that surprised him, because he deserved that slap. No, it was the person who _did _it, is what surprised him. Astrid was the kind of girl who couldn't hurt a fly!

"A minute? I've given you _fourteen years _Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third!" Hiccup gulped, she was pissed.

He reached out a hand to her and she slapped it away, "go away! I never want to see you again!"

Without another word, she turned and ran further into the forest.

His cheek turned red and he brushed his fingers against it. He winced at the slight sting and sighed.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to the trees.

* * *

Astrid ran into her and Toothless's clearing. She was sobbing loudly and the Nightfury nudged her lightly in concern. Astrid simply fell to her knees in sorrow.

Seeing her despair, Toothless wrapped himself around her and rested his head in her lap.

She sniffed loudly and stared at the Nightfury through tear filled eyes. "Oh Toothless, I know he didn't love me, but I at least thought he'd _like _me!"

Toothless looked at her confused. Seeing his expression Astrid explained everything, from the very beginning. Starting with explaining who Hiccup was, all the way to their fight. The Nightfury let out a low rumble when Astrid brought up the slap she had given him. The girl translated that to, _serve's him right._

Astrid laughed and the Nightfury game a gummy smile. The girl blinked once as she realized that she didn't feel sad anymore. She turned to look the dragon in the eye and smiled.

"You cheered me up. Thanks Toothless." She scratched his head.

No one in the village, minus Gobber, ever gave her a pep talk when she was down. People who knew her, her entire _life _didn't care about how she felt, but a _dragon _who she only knew for about a _week _cared.

"You're a real friend Toothless." The Nightfury purred in response.

She looked to the skies, then to the bundle of cloth a few feet away and smirked.

She stood up and looked at the Nightfury, confidence flowing from her body.

"Let's get you back up there!" She said pointing directly to the skies.

* * *

**Yay! Oh gosh, I am so sorry I haven't update Home in a while. I have it typed out, but it's like I've hit a rock...**


	12. Test Drive

Chapter 12

Toothless jumped up in excitement as he stared at the sky in hope. He would be flying again! The Nightfury could barely contain himself, for he was jumping around the lake, roaring in appreciation.

Astrid giggled at her friend before walking over to the bundle of cloth. She removed her spiky shoulder pads and strapped on the cloth. It was basically a brown harness. It resembled a corset with criss crossing strings in the front. The clasp she had made for the dragon's saddle would be attached to one of the strings, keeping her on the dragon at all times, it also had two shoulder pads that were shaped like her armor, minus the spikes. There was no real purpose for them; she just thought they looked cool.

Once she was done she stepped in front of Toothless and smiled, "well, how do I look?"

He gave her another gummy smile that said, _fabulous darling!_

Astrid laughed before climbing into the saddle. She took out her trusty cheat sheet, and clipped it onto the saddle. She gave it an experimental tug and smiled, "all right Toothless."

The said Nightfury spread his wings, and soon they were high above the island.

The blonde was left speechless as the wind rushed past her ears and blew through her long hair. A passing seagull called a greeting to the large reptile, and Toothless responded with a low grumble. Astrid watched as the bird glided closer to them nudged her lightly on the cheek, and then flew away. Astrid watched it leave before turning back to her friend.

"A friend of yours?"

The Nightfury snorted, and she took that as a yes.

They soared high above the cliffs and Astrid looked at her cheat sheet for reference. "Let's see… Position three? No wait, four! Yeah, four, that's what I meant to say…"

She flicked her ankle into the said position, and their glide continued in the same smooth pattern. Toothless nodded in approval and Astrid gave him a shy smile. She wasn't scared about how high they were, just nervous that she might mess up and hurt Toothless.

Seeing that everything was going well she took a deep breath. "All right, let's do this buddy!"

Astrid leaned forward and Toothless dived towards the water. As they neared the ocean's surface they flattened themselves out and continued their glide. Waves crashed against a stone arc they were flying under, it sprayed Astrid in the face and she giggled at the feeling.

A growl from Toothless snapped her out of her thoughts a second too late and they smashed into the side of a large rock. Astrid shook the clouds from her head and blushed, "I'm sorry Toothless! Are you okay? You aren't hurt right?"

Toothless gave a cry and they once again crashed into a rock.

"Oh gods! I'm so stupid!"

The Nightfury growled before slapping her upside the head with his ear. "I know buddy, I'm working on it!"

He grunted, _then pay attention! I can take care of myself!_

She didn't understand what he said, but she decided to ignore it and focus more on their flight pattern. They flew smoothly for a while and, deciding to put a little faith in the girl, Toothless turned upwards and Astrid quickly flicked her ankle in a certain position so they wouldn't crash into anything.

They soared together, totally in sync and Astrid laughed loudly. "Oh gods! This is amazing! I can feel the wind in my-" she was suddenly cut off when her cheat sheet flew past her face and her arms flailed madly as she tried to grab it, "CHEAT SHEET! TOOTHLESS, STOP!"

Hearing the command Toothless stopped in mid air and Astrid slowly lifted off the dragon's saddle. By a chance of fate she grabbed the cheat sheet and quickly looked down see that she had become separated from the dragon.

Then they began a quick and terrifying decent.

Toothless looked up, saw she wasn't in the saddle, and immediately began to panic. She wasn't riding him anymore! She didn't have wings or strong scales to protect her from the fall. All the worry in his heart was for the girl, not himself. His strong body would soften the fall, not to mention he could spread his wings and slow his decent. The girl could not do that. She had no scales, no wings, and no chance of survival.

He had to save her. Toothless roared at her as she began frantically clawing at the air.

Suddenly, and without warning, the Nightfury began spinning uncontrollably. Seeing that he couldn't do anything without her help Astrid tried to regain control of the situation.

"Okay! Toothless you have to stay calm! Okay? You gotta kind of, _angle _yourself!" She shouted as they were falling. The ground was coming up fast, and Astrid was running out of time.

"Toothless you have to- Ow!" She was cut off when Toothless slapped her with his tail on accident.

She put her cheat sheet in her mouth so that she'd have both hands free and looked her dragon straight in the eye.

They passed the mountaintop and Astrid knew that talking would take to long. She clawed the air and by a stroke of luck, she grabbed the saddle. She threw herself onto Toothless's back, re-clipped herself to his saddle, and slipped her feet into the stirrups.

Astrid pulled at the reins and Toothless spread his wings, slowing their decent. Tearing one hand away from the saddle Astrid took the cheat sheet out of her mouth and tried to study it.

The wind whistled past her ears and whipped the paper around. Making it impossible to read. Toothless screeched in fear as they neared a group of very sharp, and very deadly rocks. Astrid knew the area well, it was a shore filled with sharp rocks that practically spelled _death. _It was called Skullion Shore, because it was where the terrible, ugly, merciless Skullion dragons lived. If your boat somehow managed to get through the rocks, the Skullions would get to you, and you would never be heard from again.

Many Vikings ventured in there, but no one came back.

Astrid, deeming the sheet useless, threw it to the side _'I will not be one of those Vikings!' _She thought to herself.

Suddenly, something happened. Something happened inside of Astrid that told her what to do. It was as if voices, were telling her what to do. Subconsciously she leaned forward and as her ankle flicked in different angles and directions Toothless steered left and right.

She was no longer just a girl steering the dragon in a certain direction, she and Toothless were now one and the same. They were merged, completely in sync; they were two twins separated at birth and finally reunite as one.

They had bonded.

Not even the great Nightfury could explain what he felt, because there were truly no words that could explain that very moment, when human and beast connected. The years of bloodshed between them magically disappeared and now nothing separated them.

Eventually they managed to escape the rocky shore and were soon surrounded by sunlight.

Astrid snapped back into reality and she felt a wave of accomplishment wash over her. She threw her arms out, "WE DID IT!"

To show his happiness Toothless let loose a small burst of fire that ignited a few feet away from them.

"Oh come on…" Astrid said as they flew through the giant flame.

* * *

They landed on a small isolated island that was built up of mainly rock, rock, and more rock.

Astrid winced slightly as she brushed her only slightly burned skin. It wasn't anywhere near bad, so it would heal in a day or two.

She heard Toothless make a low retching noise and she turned around just in time to see him regurgitate a half eaten fish next to a decent sized piled of even _more _fish.

The two friends had gone fishing, and they were more than successful.

Toothless pushed it towards his friend and she shook her head and smiled, "It's okay Toothless. You eat, I'm not all that hungry."

The Nightfury shrugged before continuing with his meal.

Astrid turned away to watch the sunset, when suddenly she saw five little shapes draw closer to the island. As the shapes got closer she saw that they were tiny dragons.

'_Terrible Terrors!'_

She remembered what a certain terror had done to Tuffnut and she shivered in fear. She began to panic when the small dragons landed in front of her; she looked quickly at Toothless and slowly scooted closer to him.

Seeing her slight fear of the other dragons Toothless quickly wrapped his tail around his human and snapped at the other dragons, but the only thing they were interested in only his food.

He growled for all of them to stay away, but one brave Terror quickly grabbed a whole fish and seized it for himself. Toothless glared at him but let him take it.

As the terror dug into his meal another terror walked over and tried to share, but he was quickly chased away when the other dragon let out a stream of fire.

Toothless watched the small spectacle with mild amusement. Suddenly a fish in his pile moved and he stared at it with wide green eyes. A terror emerged, dragging the delicious morsel. Toothless snapped his jaws onto the fish and pulled it out of the terror's mouth and he swallowed it whole.

He gave a low, victorious laugh. The small dragon didn't take kindly to being laughed at. He backed away, opened his mouth and soon gas filled his throat.

Toothless watched in amusement before firing a tiny blast into the terrors mouth. The terror became inflated, like a little balloon, and then fell to the ground in heap. He stood up warily and slowly tumbled away, swaying from side to side.

Astrid hid her giggles behind her hand, "well I guess you're not so fire proof inside huh little guy?"

She reached over to Toothless and grabbed one of his fish. He whimpered loudly at his stolen treat and she smiled, "it's only one buddy."

She scratched his head reassuringly before throwing the fish to the terror, "here ya' go little guy."

The terror gratefully swallowed the fish whole and licked his lips when he was done. Then, ever so slowly, he wobbled over to Astrid and cuddled up by her leg and promptly fell asleep.

She gently stroked the tiny creature and her thoughts traveled back to her village.

"Everything. _Everything _we know about you guys, is _wrong_."


	13. The Choosing of the Viking

**OH MY GOD! I HAVE 100 REVIEWS ON THIS STORY TOO! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! THERE ARE NO WORDS THAT CAN DESCRIBE MY HAPPINESS!**

**Thank you httydluver13 for telling me that the teens are 14 and not 16, I changed that in the last chapter. I hope you all like this one!**

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Chapter 13

Later that night Astrid sat in her little area in the forge. It was basically an extra room that Gobber had given her so that she could work in peace and quiet. She sat on a stool, repairing a small tear in her flying gear. She was working by candlelight, so she had to squint to see what she was doing. The only sound was the light humming coming from her throat as she worked.

Next to her was a desk that was covered with thousands of drawings of Toothless. Some were drawings of both of them, some were of just him, but one was of Toothless, Astrid, and she was ashamed to admit this, Hiccup. She had drawn it a few days ago, when she still liked him.

She heard the door creak open and she turned around to see Hiccup standing behind her. She dropped her riding gear, kicked it under the desk, out of sight, and gathered all her drawings into one pile and turned them over to Hiccup wouldn't see them.

Once she was done she turned and glared at him, "what are you doing here?" She looked up at his head and raised an eyebrow "and what the Hel are you wearing?"

Hiccup adjusted his overly sized helmet and gave a small, almost invisible, smirk, "my dad gave it to me. Said it was half of my moms breastplate."

She turned up her nose in disgust, "well then, I guess that means I _didn't _destroy the only thing your mother left you."

Hiccup looked down in embarrassment.

"I believe you owe me an apology." She said in a sassy tone.

If it had been anyone else, Hiccup probably would have slapped him or her right across the face, but this was Astrid, the girl who's heart he had just broken.

"You're right Astrid. I'm sorry for yelling at you. I take it back."

Astrid nodded in acceptance, "all right. I accept _that _apology, but I'm still mad at you."

He nodded sadly, "I know."

There was a moment of awkward silence, which was broken when Hiccup coughed.

"Anyway my dad wanted me to give this to you."

He brought his arms out from behind his back and held out a beautiful headband, made from beautiful black leather and sewn with thread so beautiful it looked like silver when the light hit it in a certain way, but it wasn't the leather, or the thread that caught Astrid's eye, it was the beautiful blue gems that decorated it. They wrapped all the way around the headband, and on the inside of the headpiece were carefully embroidered dragons flying in a circle.

Clearly whoever made it, put great care into the design

"My dad wanted to give it to you, but he got a really bad stomachache. So he sent me, said it was a good chance to apologize."

She reached out and ran her hand over the beautiful headband.

"He said your mother made it for you when you were born. It was going to be a birthday gift for you when you turned 16, but since you've been doing really well in the ring, he figured now's a good time to give it to you."

He gestured towards her, "May I?"

"Sure" She mumbled, still slightly mad, but touched that he wanted to do something nice for her.

He gently took off the circular headband she wore around her head and replaced it with the one her mother had made. Once he was done he brushed her bangs to the side and offered one of his rare lopsided smiles.

"You look good."

"Thanks." They stood in silence for a few minutes before Astrid turned around, "If that's all you came for-"

"Astrid." He pleaded, "I want to apologize. I'm sorry I hurt your feelings, I don't know why I said what I did-"

The blonde felt tears building behind her eyes, "Can you leave me alone for a while Hiccup? I don't feel like talking right now."

His heart broke in two as he heard her voice crack when she spoke, he nodded, "I hope you like the headband. I'll see you tomorrow."

He then closed the door and walked away.

* * *

The next day Astrid and Hiccup were the only two students left in the ring. A Gronckle was hovering nearby and Astrid ducked behind one of the many tiny barriers that Gobber had set up early that morning.

Figuring the girl needed her space and he needed to keep his head in the game Hiccup hid behind a different barrier, farther away from her. He looked over and saw his father eagerly smiling at him, loudly cheering for him to win. Hiccup nodded before ducking behind the barrier again.

He clutched the sword in his hand and let out a short breath, "all right Hiccup. Pull yourself together. You can do this. You can do this!"

He flung himself over the barrier and let out a loud battle cry, only to stop in mid scream when he saw Astrid standing over a passed out Gronckle. He slammed his hand into his face repeatedly.

"Dammit!"

Stoic watched in shock as his son let loose a string of curses. Suddenly he felt someone tug at the bottom of his shirt and he looked down to see the village elder, Gothi, looking up at him.

She nodded and Stoic raised his hands, "Quiet down! The elder has come to a decision."

Hearing his loud voice the two teens froze and walked towards each other. Gobber walked into the ring and stood behind both of his students. He straightened his back and confidently held his hand over Hiccup's head.

Hiccup took in a deep breath and looked his grandmother in the eye. Gothi looked at her grandson and shook her head sadly.

Shocked that the heir was not the winner everyone's eyes shifted toward Astrid, who Gobber pointed to in confusion and disbelief.

The Elder smiled and nodded at the girl.

Hiccup let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and looked up to see his disappointed father. He turned to Astrid and nodded his respect.

"You did it Astrid!" Gobber said throwing an arm around his apprentice, "You get to kill the dragon!"

The other teenagers rushed into the ring, shouting Astrid's name. Hiccup sheathed his sword and held out his hand, "You earned it."

He spoke through gritted teeth, but he had to be respectful, it was the mature thing to do, despite the fact that he was boiling with jealousy inside. Astrid's face was as white as a sheet. She won; she had to kill a dragon… How could she? Especially after finally learning how to ride one!

"I'm so-" His sentence was cut off when the other teenagers shoved him aside and hoisted Astrid onto their shoulders and called out her name in joy.

"You did it! You're gonna kill your first dragon!" Ruffnut shouted.

Astrid put on a fake smile and half-heartedly threw her arm in the air, "hurray! I'm so excited! I'm just so, so…"

* * *

**Okay it may seem like I ended it the same way "How a Girl Trains Her Dragon" did, but there's a reason I did this, I want **_**one **_**chapter for the romantic flight scene. So yeah, I'm not copying I promise! I actually didn't want to end it there because it seems like I'm copying, but I'm not! I swear!**

**I don't really like this chapter because it's rushed, but I'm content enough to post it. Please review. No flames please.  
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	14. Hiccup's fear

**Time for everyone's favorite part! The Romantic Flight Scene!**

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Chapter 14

"I'm so-" His sentence was cut off when the other teenagers shoved him aside and hoisted Astrid onto their shoulders and called out her name in joy.

"You did it! You're gonna kill your first dragon!" Ruffnut shouted.

Astrid put on a fake smile and half-heartedly threw her arm in the air, "hurray! I'm so excited! I'm just so, so…"

* * *

"Leaving!" Astrid sighed as she walked into the clearing, a large basket slung over her back.

"Toothless! Where are you buddy?" She clicked her tongue and sighed in sadness. "Come on Toothless, we're gonna take a little vacation… Forever."

Figuring that her friend was simply resting somewhere nearby she placed the basket to the side and opened it up, checking it's contents. Satisfied she checked to make sure her riding gear was on straight. She had changed into it when she stopped at her house to pick up a few supplies.

She sighed sadly, "Well I guess this is goodbye."

"What do you mean goodbye?"

She looked up in surprise and jumped when she saw Hiccup calmly on the rock in front of her, his legs were crossed and his head was resting peacefully in his hand. She placed a hand over her heart and took a breath.

"Dear Thor! What are you doing here?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

He jumped down from the rock and she saw that he didn't have his sword with him. He walked towards her and she took a step back, "I want to apologize again. I'm sorry Astrid I never meant to hurt your feelings."

"Well you did. Now leave." She replied before she began to walk away from him.

Unfortunately he didn't leave, rather he continued to follow her, "Astrid please! You have to give me a chance! Just a minute! That's all I'm asking for!"

"Why are you so persistent? Why do you want my forgiveness so badly? I thought you didn't like me? You said you could "care less" about me."

He froze in place as he tried to answer the question in his head. He couldn't come up with a logical reason that didn't involve blurting out _I love you._

"I-I don't-"

He was cut off when he heard a low growling coming from behind him. He saw Astrid's eyes widen and her hand fly to her mouth. A chill ran up his spine and he quickly turned around, only to be tackled to the ground by a very large and very _angry _dragon.

"Toothless! Stop!" He heard Astrid cry, but the dragon didn't get off; rather he stayed there growling at the human under him.

Figuring that ordering him around wouldn't work Astrid tried talking to him like she did everyday. "Toothless! Come here boy, you want some fish? I have some fish for you!"

The Nightfury leaped off of Hiccup and made a beeline for his human, his tail thumped happily on the ground as he waited for his treat. "Good boy Toothless!"

Astrid reached into her basket and pulled out a freshly wrapped fish that she had taken from the docks. She unwrapped it and threw it to the hungry dragon. He chomped on the fish and licked his lips thankfully before gently rubbing his nose against his human.

"That's all I have buddy, but I'll get you some more okay?"

Toothless looked behind him and saw Hiccup get back up to his feet, he growled and the boy flinched. Astrid glared at Hiccup before petting her friends large head, "It's okay Toothless that's just, whoa!"

The Nightfury wrapped his entire body around Astrid and rested his head in her lap before turning to growl at Hiccup, clearly stating that she was protected and protected _well._

Hiccup stood up shakily and stared at her in disbelief, "What, in the name of Thor. Is _that?"_

Astrid smirked from the seated position Toothless had forced her into and stroked the dragons head. "_This _is Toothless. He's my friend."

Hiccup backed away in fear and shock, pure heartbreak was written across his face and for a second, Astrid wanted to reach out and show him that Toothless was kind and gentle, but the moment disappeared as soon as Hiccup began to back away from her.

"Dragon lover." He hissed before turning around and running away.

When he was out of sight Astrid looked at her dragon and they both nodded. "Let's go nab us a Viking!"

She climbed onto his back and they took off into the sky.

* * *

As this was going on Hiccup was running through the thick forest. He didn't know where he was going; he just had to get away. He stopped and banged his head on a nearby tree. This was stupid! Why was he running away?

"I'm a Viking dammit! Viking's don't run away!"

He laid his head against the scratchy bark. He had no idea why he ran away. Maybe it was because Astrid had a pet _dragon, _and he _hated _them or maybe, he was _scared._

'_Scared of what?' _He asked himself.

Perhaps he was scared of the dragon or perhaps it was the fact that someone from his village was a traitor.

His thoughts were cut off when he was suddenly plucked off the ground. He screamed in fear when he saw his feet were hovering high above the tall trees. "Oh great Odin's ghost! Oh gods what's going on?"

The Viking looked up and saw a giant, black _thing _holding him. Now had this been a _different _situation, where he was on the ground of course, Hiccup would have no problem facing this dragon, but he wasn't on the ground. He was in the air, more than likely _one hundred _feet in the air.

He screamed in fear, closed his eyes and clung to the Nightfury for dear life.

Astrid smirked at his obvious discomfort.

Toothless glided towards a tree and Hiccup was relieved/terrified when the Nightfury dropped him onto a tree branch and balanced on the tip of the tree. Hiccup hung from a tree branch and was scrambling to pull himself up.

The blonde watched his struggle with mild amusement. In all honesty she felt bad for the poor lad, but when you break someone's heart. There's no limit with revenge.

"What's up?" She asked, a hint of venom in her voice.

Hiccup looked up at her and Astrid saw something _no one _had ever seen in his eyes. It was _fear. _Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third was _scared, _and she was the reason behind it. Oh this day just couldn't get any better!

"Astrid, please get me down!"

"I don't know. You did-"

"I'm sorry all right? I do care about you! That's why I put you in dragon training!"

Astrid blinked before gulping loudly, "what do you mean?"

Hiccup sighed; his knuckles were white as he clutched the tree branch for dear life.

"You didn't need to go to dragon training. I lied all right? My dad didn't force you to go, I lied to get you to go to dragon training."

Astrid bit her lip in guilt. She sighed, "all right. Climb on."

He stared at her in shock, "what? You want me to get on a _dragon? _Are you _insane?"_

"Well then! Fine, we'll just leave you up here, see you in the afterlife!" Toothless spread his wings but Hiccup shook his head.

"I'm sorry! I take it back! Just please, get me down!"

"All right."

Hiccup pulled the upper part of his body onto the branch and shakily stood up, he put a hand on Toothless's side to help keep his balance and the Nightfury growled when he tried to climb into the saddle. His eyes saying, _you hurt her, I'll kill you._

He nodded seriously before climbing behind Astrid. He looked down and quickly looked away.

"Get me down. Please."

Astrid looked at her dragon and gave him a coy smile, "sure, but let's go for a little joy ride."

Toothless spread his wings and they took off into the skies. They flew in a straight line towards the clouds and Hiccup screamed in fear as they climbed higher and higher. Astrid simply let out giant bursts of laughter.

"Yeah! Go Toothless!"

The Nightfury leveled out again and Hiccup quickly wrapped his arms around Astrid's waist and clung to the girl for dear life. He buried his head into her shoulder and squeezed the air out of her tiny body.

Astrid smirked at his distress and her smirk only grew larger when she felt the dragon turn left. She flicked her ankles into a certain position and the dragon turned itself upside down.

Again Hiccup screamed in fear.

The dragon dove into the water and Astrid coughed as salt water got into her mouth. She glared at her dragon, "hey this is supposed to affect _him _not me!"

As an act of defiance, Toothless dove under the water again and the two teens coughed loudly.

"Thank you for _nothing _you useless reptile!" They both shouted at the same time.

Astrid in jest, Hiccup in anger.

Figuring they had enough water Toothless spread his wings and they soared higher into the skies. Then without warning he began twirling in the air.

At that moment Hiccup decided he had, had enough of the Nightfury's _fun. _He wrapped his arms tighter around Astrid and pressed his head into her shoulder.

"Stop! Please I'm begging you!"

"What's the matter Hiccup? You're not scared are you? The big bad-"

"ALL RIGHT! I'M SCARED OKAY?"

Astrid looked behind her in shock.

"I'm scared of heights. Being this high scares me. I never tell anyone because it's pathetic." Astrid bit her lip in guilt (_again._)

"I'm sorry Astrid. I'm so sorry for breaking your heart and I'm sorry I was so mean to you! I take everything back. Just get me down. _Please!"_

Hearing everything Toothless looked at his human in question and she nodded as a response. Needing only one order Toothless stopped spinning, spread his wings and brought their insane joy ride to a sudden halt.

Astrid turned around to see Hiccup still clinging to her waist. She gently tapped his hand and he looked at her in confusion.

"Look around you."

Deciding to put a little faith in the girl, Hiccup lifted up his head and looked around. In front of him was a beautiful sunset, and surrounding them were millions of gulls and beautiful rock formations. He looked up a little more and Toothless gently turned upwards and soared into the clouds high above.

Hiccup reached out a hand and felt the clouds surrounding them. They were wet and they ticked his cheeks when they flew by. Slowly Toothless and Astrid did a small loop and Hiccup actually let go of Astrid and put his hands over his head. The clouds brushed past his fingers and he gave one of his rare smiles.

Astrid gave a small smile of her own. It was as if every time she was around, Hiccup would somehow find a reason to smile.

Toothless soared higher and higher until they flew above the clouds and at that exact moment, the sun set, and they were wrapped in darkness.

The dragon soared through the Aurora*. It was a beautiful display of purple, green, blue and white. Hiccup reached out and the colors danced on his hands. Toothless folded his wings and the dived below the clouds and came to a gentle glide over the Isle of Berk.

Astrid smiled at the sight and gave her dragon a satisfied nod.

Hiccup stared at his village in awe. On the ground the village looked ordinary, but up above, on a dragon no less, it was spectacular. It was as if the gods had arranged this flight for this very reason.

As they soared past the tiny village Hiccup nodded in respect, "All right Astrid, I admit it. This is amazing."

The Nightfury made a small noise and Hiccup smiled softly, "I think you're amazing too."

Toothless purred in response.

Astrid turned around, looked the prodigy in the eye and said the three sweetest words Hiccup could ever hear.

"I forgive you."

* * *

**Okay so he's afraid of heights. Doesn't make sense but SMER! Anyway, I'm thinking of doing a Boneknapper story after I'm done with this.**

**Legend of the Boneknapper, Astrid's turn.**

**Corny? Eh, who cares? Anyway, I hope you guys like it. I'm not sure if I do.**

*** Aurora is the real name for the northern lights.**


	15. Seadragonus Gigantus Maximus

Chapter 15

"_I forgive you."_

Hiccup smiled as he stared at the freezing cold ocean a hundred feet below them. Everything was so calm and peaceful. It was beautiful, but the two Vikings had lapsed into a momentary silence. It lasted for about five minutes, before Hiccup let out a small cough.

"What are you going to do now?" He asked.

Astrid began to swear loudly, causing Toothless to look up at her in confusion. She shook her head and the Night Fury gave a small, reluctant, nod. She had almost forgotten that the elder had chosen her and she had to kill a dragon.

Hearing her curses Hiccup's eyes grew wide in realization.

"Astrid! You know what tomorrow is right?"

"The day we all jump off a cliff, hold hands and sing?" She asked, trying to get out of the conversation.

The future chief gave her a look that said: _it's not funny._

Figuring sarcasm wasn't going to get Hiccup to leave her alone she gave in and answered his question.

"I know. I have to…" Her voice trailed off and the prodigy gave her a hug.

"It's okay, we'll think of something."

Astrid beamed as he said that. He said _we, _Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third said he was going to _help _her with something! They were becoming friends, something she had hoped for, ever since they were little.

The moment was cut short, however, when Toothless steered to the right and disappeared into a cloud of mist.

"Toothless what are you doing?" Astrid asked, worry evident in her voice.

The Night Fury didn't do anything; he only shook his head roughly and veered to the right. Hiccup tightened his grip around Astrid's waist and she gave his arms a comforting pat. Something was wrong, _very _wrong.

"Toothless, you have to get us out of here." Astrid said placing a hand on his head.

The dragon growled and shook her away before returning to his steady flight. Astrid pulled back in surprise, his rejection was her conformation, something was wrong.

Suddenly, and without warning, a Monstrous Nightmare swooped out of the sky and rammed into the side of Toothless, the two teens grunted before turning to gaze at the dragon in front of them, but they were soon distracted when they almost crashed into a Deadly Nadder. Astrid steered Toothless away from the two dragons and soon they were leveled out.

A red Zippleback flew past them and called out a greeting to Toothless.

"Get down!" Astrid whispered loudly.

They both pressed themselves closer to the Night Fury's body, trying to make themselves as invisible as possible.

Within a matter of seconds a thousand dragons surrounded them, they were all flying in the same direction.

"What are they doing?" Hiccup whispered, his voice steady and even.

Astrid looked around and saw that each dragon had fish or sheep clutched in their claws, except for one dragon, it was carrying a Hippo in its claws. *

"It looks like they're hauling in their kill." Astrid said, her voice shaking slightly,

"So… What does that make us?" Astrid slammed her elbow into Hiccups stomach and the red head grunted in pain.

"What the Hel?"

"Don't you _ever _say that again! We are _not _prey to Toothless!" She said in the loudest whisper she could muster up.

Hiccup wrapped an arm around his waist and groaned, had this been anyone else, they would have been dead, but this was Astrid, so he simply nodded, "sorry."

Before Astrid could reply Toothless and the other dragons dived deeper into the mist.

"Hang on!"

The mist disappeared around them and the two teens gasped at what they saw. In front of them was a large mountain, bigger than anything they had on Berk, lava flowed out of the sides like giant waterfalls, but despite that, there was still ice on the mountain.

The dragons continued flying until Astrid made out a large crack. She gasped when Toothless slipped inside the mountain, along with the many other dragons.

When they entered the inside of the mountain. There was a, for lack of better term, bright red pit. Intense heat radiated from all around and Astrid fanned herself just to keep from passing out.

There were tall, brown, jagged, rocks that offered the dragons a place to rest or breed. Hiccup looked to the left and saw a group of Gronkle's sitting on of the rocks, a large cluster of eggs nestled next to them.

Toothless landed on one of the rocks and crouched in the shadows. With a star Astrid realized he was hiding.

'_But from what? He's a Night Fury, one of the scariest things alive! He shouldn't be scared of anything!'_

Hiccup pointed towards the center of the glow, where there were no rocks, and said, "look!"

When Astrid turned around to see what he was pointing at her mouth fell open in surprise, each dragon was dropping food into the glow.

"Well, it's satisfying to know that all our food is being dumped into a giant hole." Hiccup muttered sarcastically.

"It's so strange." Astrid pondered, "I mean, they aren't eating _any _of it!"

At that moment a Gronckle slowly fluttered by and hovered in the center of the pit. It bumbled from side to side before opening its mouth and spitting out a fish. Astrid wrinkled her nose in disgust.

It was in the middle of scratching its ear before a low growl emitted from below it. Figuring now was a good time to move on, the Gronkle began to fly away, when a very large dragon popped its head out of the pit and in a single bite, swallowed the Gronkle whole.

Fear crept its way into Astrid brain as she stared at the dragon in front of her. Its head alone would tell _any _idiot that it was _big. _The mountain itself was large; possibly half the size of Berk, and this dragon's head filled the entire mountain.

Hiccup gulped, "what. Is _that?_"

"I don't know, but we need to get out of here."

Just as Astrid said that the dragon made a short roar, causing all the dragons in the mountain to whine in fear. Astrid looked up to see a few Nadders' hurriedly gathering their eggs closer to them.

"Astrid we need to go." Hiccup whispered quickly into her ear before pointing at the dragon below them.

Blue eyes quickly made their way to the dragon and Astrid let out a small squeak of surprise. The large dragon was looking right at them.

"Okay Hiccups right. Come on buddy you have to get us out of here!" Astrid begged, but Toothless was frozen in place, his eyes were filled with fear.

"Toothless!"

Finally realizing that his human was in danger, Toothless spread his wings and took off into the air, just in time to dodge the large dragons snapping jaws. It roared loudly and each dragon flew away as quickly as their wings could allow them.

Hiccup looked behind him and the only thing he saw was the massive head of the large dragon roaring at them. He so badly wanted to turn around but curiosity kept him in place. It opened its mighty jaws, ready to enjoy a lovely Night Fury snack, but instead it grabbed a Zippleback and dragged it back into the pit with it.

A few Zippleback's turned around and cried out to it, but it simply screeched for them to get away.

Hiccup slowly looked away, wrapped his arms around Astrid's waist, and buried his head into her shoulder.

* * *

When they finally made it back to the cove Hiccup was going crazy.

"Now that I think about it, it makes sense! It's like a giant beehive! That thing is their queen and the other dragons are her workers. She, or he, controls the workers. That's why they always steal from us! If they don't feed her, they die!"

As soon as Toothless landed Hiccup leaped off, "come on we have to find my dad!"

"Wait stop!" Astrid tried to gracefully leap off of Toothless like Hiccup had done, but ended up falling flat on her face.

Hiccup offered her his hand and she gratefully took it into her own.

"Hiccup we have to think about this rationally. If we tell your dad we found the nest they're going to ask how, and then we'll have to tell them about Toothless. They'll _kill _him!" Astrid shook her head, "no, we have to think about this. Carefully okay? _Very _carefully."

The prodigy just stared at her in disbelief. She could _not _be serious.

"Astrid, we just discovered the dragons _nest. _Do you know how long our ancestors have been looking for it? Why do you want to keep it a secret? Just to protect your pet _dragon, _are you serious?"

In a flash Astrid had turned around and socked Hiccup right in the face. He gave a small cry of pain before stumbling back.

"Yes I'm serious! You know why? Because Toothless isn't just a pet, he's my friend, when everyone else was cruel to me he was the only one who wouldn't make fun of me. He's more than a pet to me Hiccup. He's like the brother I always wanted."

Realization filled Hiccups green eyes. He had never heard someone sound so determined as she was, nor had he ever felt someone punch like she could. It actually hurt, and fFor the probably the _thousandth _time that day, he regretted ever being mean to her.

"I'm sorry." Was all that he could say at the moment.

She nodded roughly.

"So what are you gonna do?"

Astrid shrugged her shoulders sadly "give me until tomorrow, I'll have thought of something by then."

Then just like that, they turned away from each other and were standing in awkward silence. A few seconds ticked by and just as Astrid was about to walk away and tend to Toothless, Hiccups arm lashed out and he punched her on the shoulder.

Astrid stumbled a bit before regaining her composure. "Ow! What the-"

"That's for punching me in the face." He replied stubbornly.

The blonde turned to her dragon friend and gave him a confused look. Toothless looked up from the lake and simply nodded his head towards the two teens before going back to drinking his water.

Deciding his answer was useless Astrid only rolled her eyes before turning back to Hiccup. She was just about to say something when she felt something soft press itself against her cheek. She flushed bright red as Hiccup pulled back from their kiss.

"That's for… Everything else."

Without another word he turned around and ran away, hoping that she couldn't see his beet red face. Astrid stood there in shock, her mouth hanging slightly open. She put a hand to her cheek and smiled lightly. He had just _kissed _her.

At that moment Toothless walked over to her. His expression, to a passerby, was simply adorable, but to Astrid she had a feeling that he was smirking at her.

She glared, "and what are you looking at Mr. Night Fury?"

He purred innocently before turning the other way.

* * *

*(**AN: there's actually a hippo in the movie. If you watch this scene with the commentary they actually say that there's a hippo from Madagascar being carried by one of the dragons.**)

**Oh my god it's done! Thank you god!**


	16. Lifes got ways of flipping you off

**Oh my god Happy New Year! I drank a whole bottle of apple cider, almost got lit on fire and saw three aerial firework shows at the same time! I AM PUMPED!**

**Anyway I thought I should WARN ALL OF YOU ABOUT THIS CHAPTER!**

**Okay there is some MAJOR HICCUP/ASTRID!**

**I took a huge risk and you'll figure out what I mean after you finish reading this trust me I was super scared while writing the ending for this, because I didn't want it to seem… rushed, but I'm actually happy with the decision.**

**Please, no flames, and enjoy the story!**

**

* * *

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Chapter 16

"Hello fellow Vikings!" Stoic shouted above the chattering of his people.

Today was the day, the day Astrid killed a dragon and officially became a Viking. The outside of the arena was filled with Vikings, all eagerly waiting to watch the Hofferson girl slaughter the Monstrous Nightmare.

At the moment they were all watching Stoic as he stepped to the side and let Gobber take his place on the large stage they were standing on.

"Good morning everyone! Now I know it is a great shock that Hiccup is _not _our winner."

A few people nodded before urging Gobber to continue.

"However, I take great pride in saying that Astrid is our winner. Now for those of you who don't know, Astrid lost her parents when she was very young, so I raised the lass."

Stoic patted his friend comfortingly on the shoulder.

"She is the daughter… I more than likely will _never _have. So it is with great pride that I say that today Astrid becomes a Viking. Today she is no longer an outcast. When she steps out of the ring… She will be, ONE OF US!"

A great cry of approval rose up from the crowd and Gobber waved everyone inside, "I'll be right in Stoic, I'm gonna check on Astrid."

The chief nodded, before climbing up to the stands in the Arena.

* * *

It took every ounce of courage Astrid had to keep from fainting on the spot. Her plan was simple, sure, all she had to do was tame the Monstrous Nightmare, subdue it, and show everyone on Berk that dragons weren't bad.

_Simple._

She gulped once and gripped her black headband in her hand for comfort. At the moment she was standing in the tunnel leading into the ring and from her position she could hear Gobbers speech loud and clear, but she had no idea whether she should laugh of cry.

Gobber was like a father to her, and she was so happy that he thought of her as a daughter and not just an apprentice, but once she revealed her love for dragons… Would he still consider her family?

Her stomach churned and she had the urge to throw up her dinner. Astrid clamped a hand over her mouth and wrapped her arm around her stomach in a desperate attempt to keep down her food.

"Astrid? What's wrong?"

The said girl quickly turned around to see Hiccup standing there with a shocked expression on his face.

Astrid shook her head clear and stood up straight, "I'm fine."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her, he knew she was lying through her teeth, but he let it slide. Hiccup looked on the floor and saw her headband lying next to her foot. He bent down and scooped it off the floor.

"You dropped something." Blushing beet red, Astrid took her headband and thanked him before placing it on her head.

"So what are you doing here?" She asked once the black band was safely on her head.

Hiccup gave a small smirk, not a smile, but a smirk before saying, "I came to tell you to be careful with that dragon."

Astrid turned around and saw everyone's excited faces as they waited for the mauling about to take place. She let out a sigh before turning to back to Hiccup.

"Trust me, it isn't the dragon I'm worried about." She said with a slight air of humor.

Then her face turned serious, "Hiccup. If I don't make it out of there… Please, don't let anything bad happen to Toothless."

"I promise." He replied, his entire heart in his words, "but now you have to promise me something."

"What is it?" She asked, confusion written on her face.

"Promise me that you'll make it out of there!" He said with a smirk.

He meant for it to be a small joke, but Astrid took it seriously, "I can't promise-"

Her sentence was cut off when Gobber poked his head in the tunnel, "Astrid, it's time. Do your best."

A large smile spread across Gobbers face; "I know you'll make your mother and father proud of you."

Her heart dropped from her chest to the bottom of the ocean when Gobber said that. If her parents were alive, they would have been so disappointed with what she was doing, but there was no turning back now. The water had been spilled, and she couldn't take it back.

So she took a deep breath, turned around and slowly walked into the ring.

Her fellow teenagers, minus Hiccup, began to chant her name, "Astrid, Astrid, Astrid!"

The blond couldn't help but remember that they used to hate her, but here they were. Cheering her on.

Pushing the thought out of her head, Astrid picked up a shield and selected her weapon, which was a small dagger.

"I would have gone for the hammer." The chief stated to Gobber, who had just arrived, before turning back to watch the fight.

"Give it to im' Astrid!"

"Destroy him Astrid!"

The blonde mentally glared at all of them. The Nightmare wasn't a _he _it was a _she, _and Astrid had taken it upon herself to name the dragon Fireworm. In her opinion it was pretty and terrifying at the same time.

Astrid took a deep breath and nodded at her chief. As soon as she did this, the lock on the gate slowly began to lift away.

A few seconds ticked by and nothing happened, when suddenly the gate flew open and a very ticked off Fireworm burst out. Nightmares love to light themselves on fire, and that's exactly what Fireworm had done. In fact her entire cage was covered in a sort of lava like substance that stuck to the wall.

The bright red dragon scaled the wall and clung to the metal ceiling above her and unleashed a stream of fire at the nearby Vikings. Luckily for them, they leaped out of the way just in time.

Fireworm was a bit of a diva. She loved to be in the spotlight, she didn't care if she died or not, so long as she took a Viking with her, she would happily go to Hel and back.

The jacket of fire dispersed and Fireworm slowly crept from her position on the ceiling and landed gracefully in front of Astrid. The girl immediately began to rethink her plan, but she couldn't run, the arenas only exit was now blocked off by a gate.

There was no turning back now.

Everyone watched in anticipation as Astrid held up her dagger. Fireworm snarled and crouched into a fighting position.

Then she did something surprising; she dropped her weapon and her shield and slowly put up her hands.

"What is she doing?" Stoic asked, leaning forward in his large chair.

Gobber shrugged.

Astrid looked at the opening to the Arena, which was now closed, and saw Hiccup standing behind the gate, and he was nodding at her. Silently urging her to continue.

Without saying a single word, Astrid moved her hands to her head and removed the headband her mother had made for her.

"I'm not one of them Fireworm." She said before tossing it to the other side of the ring.

Shock filled Gobbers eyes when he saw Astrid hold up her hands and move closer to the red dragon in front of her.

Fireworm snorted loudly, attempting to scare the human, but Astrids face remained neutral, "it's okay girl. I won't hurt you. I promise."

The Nightmare drew back in shock. The human in front of her had called her a _female. _There wasn't a human alive that knew her gender; every Viking had resorted to calling her _it _rather than _she. _Apparently this Viking was something else.

Stoic stood up from his chair and Gobber tried to restrain him, "Stoic think about this for a second, maybe she's trying too-"

"Stop the fight." He ordered, ignoring his friend's words.

"No!" Astrid shouted, having overheard Stoics order.

Fireworm hissed in suspicion and Astrid quickly apologized before looking up at her fellow tribe members. All of them were staring at her in expectation and shock.

"I need to show this to you Stoic. I need to show _all _of you!" She inched closer to Fireworm, making sure not to go to fast.

"We're wrong. We were _always _wrong. Dragons are not mindless monsters, they have thoughts, and feelings." She was just a centimeter away from Fireworm's skin. "We don't have to fight them."

"I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!" Stoic ordered loudly, slamming his hammer onto the metal bar in front of him.

The sound of Stoics voice, mixed with the ringing of his hammer, frightened Fireworm. Thinking that Astrid had tricked her, Fireworm screeched loudly and lunged at the tiny Vikings, who screamed and dodged just in time.

* * *

Back at the clearing Toothless heard his humans scream and snapped his eyes open.

* * *

"Astrid!" Hiccup screamed, worry clear in his voice.

He ripped an axe off the wall, hey they're Vikings there are weapons _everywhere,_ slammed it under the gate and slowly pried the door open. The gate only opened a few inches above the ground, but Hiccup was practically a twig, so he squeezed through easily.

The red head scrambled to his feet and rushed into the ring. He took one look at Astrid running in fear before quickly running towards the broken weapon holder. He grabbed a hammer, lifted it up and expertly threw it towards Fireworm. It slammed into her head and she screeched before chasing after him.

Realizing that he was now the intended target, Hiccup gulped before taking off in the other direction.

* * *

Meanwhile Toothless was trying his best to scramble up the rocks leading out of the cove. He knew that scream, it was Astrid, and she was in trouble. He couldn't get of the cove before, but the sheer will to protect his human drove him forward, and actually _forced _him to find a way out. His claws managed to grab onto the top and he dug them into the ground so he would stay in place.

* * *

Stoic quickly made his way down to the gates of the arena. He had to hurry, not only was Astrid in danger, but his son was as well. What in Thors name was he _thinking? _Rushing in like that?

As soon as he got to the gate he lifted it with his hands and to the two teens he shouted, "this way!"

Hearing his loud voice Hiccup and Astrid ran as quickly as they could. Hiccup made it to his father first and turned around to see Astrid just within arms reach, when suddenly Fireworm let out a stream of fire and blocked Astrid's path.

Fireworm bounded towards Astrid and the poor girl ran in the opposite direction.

Green eyes filled with horror and Hiccup let out a piercing cry "Astrid!"

* * *

Never had Toothless run faster. He had to save Astrid, he had to protect her, she was his best friend, and quite possibly the nicest human he had ever had the pleasure of being downed with.

* * *

Hiccup watched in absolute horror as Fireworm pushed Astrid to the ground and trapped the small girl in her claws.

'_Now I wonder.' _Fireworm whispered in dragonese, the language of the dragons, _'how should I eat you?'_

Astrid closed her eyes and prepared for death, when suddenly she heard a strange noise that seemed to rise in pitch by the second. Her eyes snapped open in shock as she realized what the sound was.

A black dragon burst through the crowd of Vikings and let out a blue bolt of fire. Smoke filled the ring and Toothless dived straight in before knocking Fireworm off of his human. The Night Fury pushed her out of the smoke and they began their fight.

Fireworm began to bite at Toothless, who was on her back, only to receive a claw to the face.

Gobber looked at the black dragon in amazement, "Night Fury!"

Toothless tore himself away from Fireworm and roared at her. Fireworm was a very smart, very old, Nightmare. She knew this Night Fury was much too strong for her. Deciding that life was a little better than death, she fled back to her cage.

Astrid shakily got up and ran to her friend's side, "okay Toothless time for you to go!"

Toothless growled when he saw a few Vikings jumping into the ring. Thinking they were trying to hurt his human he quickly went into the defense. He wrapped a wing protectively around his human and roared loudly at the Vikings.

"Toothless please just go!" She begged, pushing the Night Fury with all her might.

Stoic grabbed an axe off the wall and charged into the ring with a battle cry.

Hiccup rushed after his father, "dad stop!"

"Stoic stop!" Astrid begged her chief, but he didn't listen.

He never listened.

Thinking that Stoic was going to kill Astrid, Toothless charged forward, knocking out anyone who dared get in his way. Fear filled Astrids eyes when her dragon tackled Stoic to the ground.

She watched as Toothless powered up a fireball. Stoic closed his eyes, waiting for death to take him.

"Toothless!"

The said dragon wasn't listening; he was intent on killing the man who had tried to harm his human.

"TOOTHLESS! STOP!"

The Night Fury closed his mouth and swallowed the flammable gas burning in his throat. He looked behind him and gave Astrid a face that just screamed: _I'm sorry._

Everything would have been fine, if Spitelout hadn't jumped in at that moment and slammed the blunt of his axe into the side of Toothless's head, knocking him off of Stoic. The Night Fury whined in pain, but just as he was about to defend himself, five more Vikings leaped onto his back and pinned him down with their weight. In a matter of minutes, Toothless was restrained.

"No!" Astrid cried in horror.

She rushed forward, ready to save her friend, no matter what the cost may be, but just as she was about to reach him Hiccup had appeared next to her and held her back.

"No! Hiccup let me go!" She cried, trying to free herself, but his grip held.

"I'm sorry Astrid." He looked towards his father, who was slowly getting off the floor.

Toothless groaned loudly and Hiccup looked at the dragon with a look of pure defeat and sadness. The Night Fury made a small noise before putting his head down.

"Put it with the other devils." Stoic ordered before turning towards Astrid, "let the dragon lover go! She's comin' with me."

Hiccup wrapped his arms around Astrid protectively, unsure if he should hand her over to his enraged father, but Stoic wasn't known for patience. Without even so much as a glance to his son, Stoic reached out, grabbed Astrids arm and pulled her away.

"Astrid!" Hiccup cried in shock.

"Don't worry about me! I'll be fine!" She called out before she and Stoic disappeared behind a corner.

* * *

Stoic dragged Astrid outside the arena and he began to give his lecture.

"What in the name of Hel just happened?" He shouted at the blonde Viking.

"I tried to explain in the ring Stoic, but you didn't-"

"You almost killed half the people in the village! With that… _abomination!"_

"He's not an abomination! He's my friend, and he's the only one I have!" She shouted, carefully leaving Hiccup out of anything she said.

She wouldn't let him suffer for the rest of his life just because she couldn't keep her mouth shut. Rage filled Stoics eyes and he let out a loud growl.

"How long have you kept the devil a secret Astrid?"

"Since before you left. I tried to tell you all what was going on in the ring today, but you never listen!" She shouted, unleashing her pent up rage, "besides he's not a devil! I told you, he's my friend. Why won't you believe me?"

"Because he tried to kill me!"

"Because he was _protecting _me!"

Stoic turned around angrily, "Astrid. They have killed _hundreds _of us! They killed your mother and your father, and they killed my wife!"

"And we've killed _thousands _of _them! _We kill them, steal their hatchlings and impale their heads as trophies!" The very thought made Astrid sick to her stomach.

"They kill us because they're trying to defend themselves and their young!"

Stoic's rage was at a boiling point now, but Astrid continued anyway, "they raidus because they _have _to! If they don't bring food back, they become her meal! There's this _thing _on their island, it's disgusting, and twenty times the size of any dragon I've ever seen!"

"Their Island?" Stoic turned around, "you've been to the nest?"

Astrid backed away in fear, "you see, I didn't say nest actually."

"How did you find it?" Stoic asked, his face red with rage that Astrid had kept this secret from him and the entire village.

"I didn't! Toothless did. Only a dragon can find the nest, they have this homing beacon…" Her voice trailed off when she realized what she had just said.

She cursed to herself before looking up at Stoic. She took one look at his face and she just knew what he was going to do. The big chief pushed past her and Astrid raced to catch up with his big strides.

"Stoic please don't do this! I promise this is something even you can't win!" She stopped mid run, hoping he would come to his senses, but he didn't, he wasn't listening.

Figuring talking wasn't going to help, Astrid raced after her chief and grabbed him by the arm, "for once in your life listen to me!"

Stoic turned to her and pushed Astrid away from him.

"Dragon lover. When I get back, I'm going to kill your little pet, and then I'm going to banish you forever."

Astrid felt hot tears pour down her face as watched her chief walk away. Her whole world was collapsing around her, she had been banished and lost her best friend in the same day, and it wasn't even noon yet!

Suddenly, she wanted something warm around her, she wanted to feel Toothless wrapping his scaly body around her, she wanted to hear his purring, which was a constant reminder that everything would be all right, but Toothless wasn't around and suddenly she wanted something else holding her.

She wanted Hiccup to come to her side and hold her tightly. She wanted to see his lopsided smile; she wanted him to tell her everything would be all right.

She wanted, and desperately needed, a hug.

* * *

Hiccup was just walking out of the arena when his father brushed by. The red head looked to the left and saw Astrid running away, her shoulders were shaking, and she had her face buried in her hands, so he had to assume that she was crying.

"Ready the ships!" Stoic ordered in a loud voice.

"Dad! What are you doing?" Hiccup asked running after his father.

Stoic turned around and clamped a huge hand onto his son's shoulder, "Astrid told us about the nest. We're going to look for it."

That caught the teenager's attention, "what? Are you insane? Do you _know _what's on their island? Dad it's huge! I've never seen something more _terrifying _in my life."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the young Viking immediately wished he could take it back. Stoic turned around, anger burning in his eyes.

"You've been to the nest? Why didn't ya' tell me?"

Hiccup took a step back before saying, "because Astrid asked me not to." He stated with both his arms crossed over his chest.

"Why are ye' defending that traitor?" Stoic shouted, waving his arms over his head in a gesture that said, 'are you insane?'

"She's not a traitor! Don't call her that!"

"She's a Dragon Lover Hiccup! You shouldn't be defending her!"

"I can defend whoever I want!"

A few Vikings cast strange glances at the Chief and his son, but each glance was ignored, very well might I add.

"She's been keepin' secrets from us Hiccup! What possible reason could you have to defend her?"

Hiccup froze in place, "I…I…"

"Yes? On with it boy spit it out!" Stoic ordered his son.

"I… I guess I've sort of…"

Stoic's patience was running out, "so help me boy I will-"

"I LOVE HER! OKAY?" Hiccup shouted, cutting him off.

Everyone within earshot turned to look at him, shock and disbelief written on their faces. If Hiccup noticed their stares, he made a good show of ignoring them.

He took a deep breath before saying, "that's right dad. I fell for the worlds worst Viking and I don't regret a damn thing."

Stoic opened his mouth to yell back but Hiccup cut him off.

"I'll admit, she's as clumsy as a troll with one foot, she can't lift a hammer or even swing an axe to save her life, but she's got a spirit in her that I haven't seen in a girl since mom died." He took a deep breath, "I guess I always had a small crush on her. She's different. I like different."

His eyes softened and he stared at something miles and miles away, "she showed me her dragon dad, scared the Hel out of me while she did, but through sheer determination she showed me how to love their world, and I guess I went from liking her… To loving her."

Anger flashed across Stoic's face as he heard what his son had just said. Hiccup saw this and moved closer, he reached a hand out but Stoic simply slapped it away, "you've fallen in love with their world have ye'? Then go be with em'. You disgust me."

Hiccup stumbled back in shock, "you're not a Viking. You're not my son."

With that the chief walked away and Hiccup was left alone. He hung his head, trying, and succeeding, in keeping his emotions in check. He was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, he never cried, he was as tough as nails, but being disowned can take a lot out of _anyone._ No matter how strong or weak you were. The teen turned angrily on his hill before calmly walking away. He saw thousands of emotions play across his fathers features, rage, anger, hurt, betrayal, and many more, but what he had missed was the one that was so apparent. It was sadness. It's true, Stoic was hurt beyond compare. He had just banished a young girl, and disowned his son! His heart was heavy with regret, but he did it for the good of the tribe.

Stoic continued to repeat his thoughts in his head, but he just couldn't push the regret from his mind. Did he really need to be that hard on the two teens? Stoic's thoughts came to a sudden halt when Spitelout stepped in front of him.

"Stoic! How many Vikings do you want to take on the ships?"

"Everyone on Berk."

Spitelout opened his mouth to yell at the stupidity of his brothers idea, but he took one look at Stoics rage filled eyes and he gulped, "yes sir. It will take all of today and tonight but we'll be ready by sunrise."

"That's fine."

"Are we bringing the kids with-"

"No! They and the elder are staying here."

"Yes sir!"

As soon as Spitelout walked away Stoic cursed loudly, if it took all day and all night to prepare the ship... What in the world was he going to do with Hiccup? He had just disowned him, and now the boy had no where to go. Astrid had a home she could call her own, but Hiccup didn't have a place to stay the night.

"Maybe Gobber would be willing to take the boy..."

* * *

**Oh, my, GOD! I JUST WROTE MORE THAN 4000 WORDS! SOMEONE THROW ME A PARTY! Anyway, I'm actually pretty happy with the way this came out. Maybe it's because I'm growing some self-confidence?**

**Well, whatever it is I just want to say this.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I'm very thankful, when I get an email saying that I have a new review I just feel so happy! I mean I'm a rookie I've only been here, on this site, for a year and a few days and I have 100 reviews on TWO of my stories! It's so incredible! I think I'm dreaming!**

**And in case you haven't noticed I'm a bit loopy right now so please forgive me. I'm aiming for 200 reviews, but I think that would be pushing it a little too far, but hey, you gotta dream big to be big right?**

**Thank you all so much for your reviews and kind thoughts. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you all look forward to a quick update!**

**Thank you for reading!**

**Signed-**

**Maui Girl 808~**


	17. Do you regret it?

**Hi guys! I'm back! It's been a while since I've updated, I'm sorry, but I'm sure this story will appease you, it's pretty long!**

**Okay, first off I want to thank Digital Dragon Productions for helping me with an idea for this chapter! You are so awesome!**

**I want to thank everyone for reviewing and I hope to get tons of reviews for this chapter.**

**Please excuse the grammar mistakes; I'm still a rookie. OH! And please do me a favor!**

**My friend drew a picture of Hiccup and Toothless, can you guys look at it and support her? View it, comment on it, just please go look at it! She really needs the support!**

**Here's the link: http:/ /midnightxlight. deviantart. com/ art/ Hiccup -and-Toothless – 195319750**

**If that doesn't work go to Deviantart . com and type in "MidnightxLight."**

**THANK YOU, NOW GO READ!**

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Chapter 17

Toothless was miserable, he had been thrown into a cage and was clawing at the door, begging to be freed. There was a small opening for air, but other than this, he was cut off completely from the outside world. He roared in annoyance when the door did not budge. The dragons surrounding him awoke with a start from their afternoon naps and shivered in fear, they all knew that roar and suddenly, each and every one of them let out cries of sadness.

They knew what this meant, if the great Night Fury had been captured… Every dragon alive was doomed.

* * *

As this was going on Hiccup could be seen walking through the village, his sword, Endeavor, was strapped to his back rather than his waist. By now he had assumed that everyone had heard of his disownment, because as he walked he noticed the dirty and sometimes sympathetic looks that were shot at him, but despite this fact no one dared to move in and physically or verbally attack the small boy.

Disowned or not, Hiccup would not think of twice about kicking the crap out of anyone.

He walked up to a house and knocked loudly on the door.

"Astrid! Are you in there?"

The girl in question was in her room at the back of her house. The house had only one story with only two rooms, both of which were fairly empty except for a bed and a chair. One room belonged to Astrid, the other had belonged to her parents, but when they passed away Astrid sealed off the room and never went near it again.

She had been sitting in her room when she heard Hiccup call out to her.

Astrid didn't walking to the door; rather she just told him the door was unlocked. She heard footsteps approaching her door and a voice calling her name.

"I'm in here." She called, not really focusing on anything but the task she was performing at the moment.

Hiccup pushed open her door, and raised his left eyebrow in confusion.

Astrid was walking back and forth, shoving her clothes and pretty much anything she owned into a bag. She didn't even stop to acknowledge the boys presence, she just continued with her packing.

The prodigy stepped in front of her and grabbed the sides of her arms, forcing her to stop, "What are you doing?"

"Packing." She stated simply, trying to wrench herself from his grip, "I thought you would have heard by now. I'm being banished when your father gets back from the dragons nest."

Hiccup's grip on her arms tightened as he tried to digest the news, but before he could even work out a reply she said, "I'm not sticking around for him to announce it to everyone else, so I'm leaving."

The boys heart froze at the though, a village without Astrid? That was just… too much. He wouldn't take that sitting down; he wasn't about to let the girl he loved disappear from his life forever. He released her arms and took a few steps back.

"Well I've been disowned. So I guess you're stuck with me as a travel buddy." He said before plopping onto her bed.

Astrid was clearly caught of guard, he gaze zeroed in on Hiccup and she shook her head so quickly all the red head saw was a bright yellow blur, "no way Hiccup! You can't come with me; I'm not dragging you into banishment. Besides, your dad will forgive you for… whatever you did."

To her supreme surprise, he shook his head.

"I actually don't want to go back. You're much better company, and I like being around you." He said, a slight blush creeping across his face.

Astrid's face flushed bright red and a goofy smile grew across her face, "thanks Hiccup."

She walked over to her bed and sat down next to him, before the both fell onto their backs with exasperated sighs. For a few moments they just sat there, staring at the ceiling, silently enjoying each others company.

A few seconds ticked by and at last, Astrid spoke, "you know what would make this… moment, I guess that's what this is, perfect?"

"You mean it's not perfect all ready?" He asked, a cocky grin on his face.

She scoffed, "It is, in a way, but still…"

"I'm kidding! What did you have in mind?"

"Toothless. Toothless would make everything all right again. Somehow…"

Hiccup smiled at her predictable answer, then, ever so carefully, he took her hands into his own, "Well then let's go get him shall we?"

* * *

The two teenagers burst out of Astrid's home and raced through the village, Astrid took the lead, her determination to help her friend pushing her to go faster and faster.

Their eyes were filled with child like hope as they ran to the dragon pen, but as soon as they reached the pens, the child like hope was ripped from their eyes, and smashed under a rock.

"Stoic! Gobber! What are you two doing here?"

Yes, it was true; Stoic and Gobber were waiting in front of the dragon pens. Stoic's gray eyes swept over the two children before resting on his friend, who was wordlessly twiddling his thumbs, as if he didn't enjoy being there.

"Thought you would try somethin' like this." Stoic spat, anger flaring in his eyes.

"Don't think for a second, that I'm lettin' ya' two _dragon lovers _into the pens!" The chief then turned to his battle brother, "take em' to the forge Gobber. Make sure they _don't _try this again."

Venom dripped from every word he spoke, and Hiccup glared at his father and Gobber grabbed them both by the arms and dragged them away. As he and Astrid were lead to the forge her looked over his shoulder and shouted something no one thought they would ever hear.

"Curse you Stoic! _Curse! __**You!"

* * *

**_

By the time the reached the forge, which was on the other side of the village, it was past sunset, and the village was lit with flickering torches. He shoved the two teens into the forge and shut the door behind him. The shop, as always, was sweltering, even though winter was quickly approaching. Gobber turned to the two teens and gave them a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry about this, but orders-"

"What are you going to do with us Gobber?" Hiccup asked impatiently.

The blacksmith blinked in surprise before letting out a small cough, "Right… Well usually I sleep here, so I keep a spare room. You can sleep in there for the night."

He pointed to a door in the far corner of the room. When the two teens didn't move he shoved them towards the door, and they reluctantly moved forward.

They entered a small, windowless, room with nothing but a bed and a small bedside table. Astrid blushed slightly, as she realized that she and Hiccup would have to share the bed for the night, she glanced at Hiccup, to see if he had the same insecurities she did, and smiled when she saw his beet red face.

"I'll be back in the mornin'. Get some sleep."

With that Gobber closed the door to the room, and the two teenagers were left alone. As soon as the door closed Hiccup heard the sound of furniture scraping on the ground, he growled as he realized that Gobber had blocked the exit. So much for his: break down the door, idea.

Astrid blushed scarlet red but Hiccup simply shrugged, "you can have the bed, I'll sleep on the floor."

"No! I'd feel bad if you slept on the floor." The blond shouted, still beet red.

"Just take the bed Astrid! Please? For me?"

The dragon tamer looked into Hiccups emerald eyes before making up her mind, "all right. If it'll make you happy."

Hiccup smiled before stretching out on the floor, "goodnight Astrid."

"Goodnight Hiccup."

With that, they both fell asleep.

* * *

Late that night Hiccup was awoken by the sound of sobbing, he shot straight up and his still drowsy eyes saw Astrid.

'_Obviously. She's the only other person here.' _Hiccup shakily stood up and sat on the bed on the opposite of Astrid.

The girl was shaking violently and tears were running down her face, but despite this, she was still fast asleep. Hiccup, still half asleep, mindlessly stroked her golden locks.

"Shh…" He whispered, "It's okay. I'm right here. What's wrong?"

"Toothless… Toothless."

So she was dreaming about Toothless. That would make sense, considering he was her closest friend.

Hiccup was right. Astrid was having a nightmare about Toothless being eaten by the big dragon they had seen the day before, and it wasn't a pretty sight, all the while Toothless was crying out to her, begging her to save him, but she just stood there. Crying like the pathetic, talking, fishbone she was.

Just when it seemed like all hope was lost she heard a voice, it was a soft and sweet voice that soothed her with every word that was spoken. The large dragon was slowly disappearing and soon she was surrounded by warmth. Toothless had his large black body wrapped around her like a blanket, and Hiccup had his gangly, but strong, arms around her small body. Clinging to her as if the wind itself would blow her away.

She smiled warmly before snuggling into his chest, and from that moment on, her dream was happy and peaceful.

* * *

The next morning Gobber awoke bright and early before heading to the forge to check on Hiccup and Astrid. When he reached the smithy he pushed the large table away from the door and opened the door quietly, not wanting to wake up the two teens if they were still sleeping, and silently crept across the room. A little bit of light came in from the now open door, illuminating the room in a strange, ivory colored glow.

Gobber looked at the bed in front of him and raised an eyebrow in confusion and shock.

He knew Hiccup had too much pride to claim a bed and let a girl sleep on the floor, but he didn't know the teenager was keen on _sharing._

Hiccup was sleeping on his side with a still slumbering Astrid nestled in his arms. Her face was buried into his chest and, it could have been a trick of the light, there was a small smile on her soft lips. The prodigy himself had his head buried into her long golden locks.

They looked incredibly comfortable.

"Aww. Isn't that cute?" He meant to whisper, but of course, if you haven't figured it out by now.

Vikings can't whisper.

Gobbers voice boomed out, startling the two teenagers out of their peaceful slumber. They looked down, or up in Astrid's case, at each other and quickly separated. They both leaped to opposite sides of the room, blushing beet red.

"No need to be ashamed. Many Vikings yer age do _much _worse-"

"Nothing happened!" Both teenagers screeched, still bright red.

"Now don't be afraid to tell ol' Gob-"

"NOTHING HAPPENED!" Hiccup screamed, a surprisingly brighter red than Astrid was.

Gobber shook his head and laughed, "Oh calm down! I'm jus' teasin'!"

Hiccup glared at the large man before turning to Astrid, who was simply standing on her side of the room, making circles in the dust with her foot.

"What are you doing here Gobber?" He asked after realizing that Astrid was too embarrassed to say anything.

Suddenly remembering what he was came over for Gobber's smile disappeared.

"We're leavin' soon, and Stoic wants you to stay out of tha' forge, an' outta trouble."

Hiccup looked at Astrid and saw her quickly blink back a tear. Suddenly it all came back to him, Astrid was being banished, and he had been disowned. His lips formed a thin line, but other than this, his emotions were unreadable.

Gobber sighed as he looked at the kids in front of him, he felt sorry for them, he truly did, but orders were orders.

"Just stay outside until we get back."

The red head crossed the room slung his arm around Astrids shoulder and nodded his head. Something passed between their eyes and before Gobber could process what had just happened Astrid was out the door, Hiccup trailing behind her, his sword once again strapped to his back.

As soon as they stepped outside Hiccup grabbed Astrids arm and began pulling her towards a tall hill, "follow me. I know where we can watch the harbor without being seen."

The blond girl let him pull at her arm and soon found herself standing on a ledge at the top of a very tall hill, with Hiccup standing a few feet behind her, forcing himself not to look over the ledge.

"What is this place?"

"It's sort of like a widows walk. Wives that had to stay back from fights during battles because they had to raise their children would stand up here from dawn to dusk with their babies and wait for their husbands ships to come back."

"Doesn't sound very Viking-like." Astrid admitted.

"My mom liked the idea. She always brought me up here."

"So how come you're scared of heights? Shouldn't you be used to it if you came up here all the time?"

Hiccup shrugged, "remember how I broke my arm when I was six?"

Astrid nodded; she had been sitting in the forge, working on a small dagger when she heard Stoic's loud voice screaming at people to get the healer.

"Well after my mom died I came up here a lot, one day I wasn't watching and I fell off the side. I landed in the water but I broke my arm, Odin knows how, but it hurt like Hel."

The blond rolled her eyes, "At least you didn't cry."

"I don't cry." He stated hands crossed firmly over his chest.

"You usually don't smile either, but for the past few days you've been smiling like crazy." She pointed out with a small smirk.

Hiccup rolled his eyes when suddenly he stood up straighter, "they're going to leave soon."

Astrid whipped her head around and saw her dragon being lowered onto Stoic's boat. A tear leaked out of her eye and fell to the ground. She stepped forward and for a second Hiccup was worried that she would leap over the edge, but what he didn't expect was to hear her let out a pained scream.

"TOOTHLESS!"

The night fury looked up and roared sadly. He would have continued his verbal rant, if his mouth hadn't been clamped shut.

Astrid rushed forward, "No!"

She would have fallen off the edge if Hiccup hadn't been there to catch her. He swallowed down his fear as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kept her from leaping into the ocean. He wanted to look down, he badly did, but he couldn't. His pathetic fear kept him from looking down and glaring at his father.

Tears began to pour down Astrid face when she saw Stoic glance up at them. He glared, turned around and barked out a single order.

"Set sail! We head for Helheims gate!"

The boat moved into the ocean and within minutes they were out of sight. Astrid furiously wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and stood up straight, backing away from the ledge, causing Hiccup to let go of her. She sniffed once as she looked out at the vast blue fabric of water.

She stepped away from Hiccup but placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, telling him that he could back up if he was scared. Hiccup scrambled backwards a few steps before looking out to the ocean. He sighed once more.

They stood there in silence for a few moments before Astrid broke their silence.

"We're never going to see them again are we?" She asked quietly.

Hiccup shook his head, "yeah. They're either gonna get eaten or they somehow come to their senses, turn around and then banish us…"

Astrid punched him on the arm. It didn't hurt at all, but Hiccup feigned a hurt face, hoping to make her feel better.

"Maybe we should start our own village somewhere far away." He said, with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

He got a foot in the crotch.

While he doubled over in pain Astrid rolled her eyes, "don't think about something like that when a giant dragon is about to eat your father and my best friend."

Hiccup hurriedly apologized… Once the pain between his legs disappeared.

"Do you regret not killing him?" He asked.

Astrid hurriedly shook her head, "no. I will _never _regret letting Toothless live. If I killed him, I probably would have been killing myself."

"What do you mean?"

The blond sighed, "well… When I looked at him. I saw myself. I looked into his eyes, and I saw a scared, pathetic, lonely thing that didn't have a place in the world. He was just another outcast…"

Hiccup placed a hand on her arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "I'm sorry Astrid."

The red head removed his hand and stepped backwards before sighing, "I wish there was something we could do to stop them, but they took all the boats, and we can't possibly _swim _to Helheims gate. We would also need something to get rid of that giant… _thing! _We need more firepower, more…"

He sentence trailed off when he saw Astrid's Cheshire cat grin.

"What are you think-" He stopped mid sentence when the blond rushed towards him and wrapped him in a giant hug.

"YOU'RE A GENIUS HICCUP!" She yelled before grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the village.

* * *

A few minutes later Astrid and Hiccup stood in the arena, staring at the cage of the Monstrous Nightmare.

"Astrid, I don't know about this…" Hiccup admitted, his teeth scraping against his bottom lip.

"Why not? The plans easy, we take two dragons, fly towards your father, convince him that he's wrong then come back. Simple!"

Hiccup chewed his lip worriedly. It wasn't that he didn't trust Astrid's plan; it was just that he still wasn't comfortable flying by himself. His fear of heights was the only thing keeping him from following the girl he loved.

"All right I don't know what's going on but if my cousin's in… I'm in."

The two teens whirled around to see Fishlegs, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Snotlout standing in front of them.

"What are you guys doing here?" His hand instinctively went to his waist, but there was nothing there.

He cursed as he remembered that he had left Endeavor back at the forge.

Snotlout stepped forward, "we saw you guys run in here and we want to know what's goin' on."

"Because we want to help." Fishlegs said quietly.

Tuffnut stepped in front of Astrid and shoved his face into hers. Astrid stepped back in shock.

"You're crazy. I like that." He said the last part in a seductive tone.

Astrid blushed beet red, she was feeling very uncomfortable, but thankfully Hiccup pushed the twin to the side and barked at him to not 'invade' someone's personal space.

Hiccup turned to the blond girl and they nodded to each other, silently agreeing to let the other teenagers in on their plan. So after Astrid explained everything she felt the teens were ready. Before she could open the gate Hiccup grabbed her arm.

"Wait. I think you're forgetting something."

The prodigy dipped his hand into his pocket and extracted Astrid's headband, it had been folded and tucked into his pocket, where it sat all night, but it still looked beautiful.

Astrid's face lit up the moment she saw it, "my headband! Oh I thought I lost it!"

"I found it yesterday. Want it back?"

As if it would be an answer on it's own, Astrid lowered her head and Hiccup gently placed it on her golden locks. He brushed her bangs away from her sea blue eyes and smiled.

Four jaws hit the ground and the four teenagers began to whisper amongst themselves. Hiccup never smiled, so why was he doing it now?

Their gossip was cut short the minute Hiccup threw some rope at them.

He jabbed a thumb at his blond crush and said, "you're gonna need something to help ya' hold on."

They looked up to see Astrid releasing every dragon in the arena.

* * *

The dragons all crowded around Astrid, purring and humming as she petted their snouts.

"Who's a good dragon? Who's a good dragon? Are you a good dragon?" The Zippleback she had been cooing to nodded it's two heads, "oh really?"

The four teens watched in shock as the dragons practically bowed down at her feet. Astrid turned to the other teenagers and nodded.

"Don't go to them. They'll come to you." She explained before letting the dragons find their new friends.

The Gronkle bumbled left and right before plopping down at Fishlegs feet. It snorted once before settling down and falling asleep. Astrid smiled when she saw Fishlegs bravely pet the Gronkle.

"Her name is Horrorcow." Astrid said before moving towards the twins, who were at the moment bonding with a Hideous Zippleback.

"This is Zac." She pointed towards the gas head, "and this is Wheezie." She said pointing to the spark head.

She then moved on to Snotlout, who stood next to a Deadly Nadder, looking tall and proud. Astrid smiled at the two vain creatures before petting the Nadders head.

"His name is Arrow. Take good care of him."

She was just about to go check on Hiccup when suddenly a flash of red whizzed by her, followed by an even bigger flash of red. The other dragons roared loudly before chasing after the red headed boy.

Astrid leaped in front of Hiccup, and surprisingly, the dragons stopped, but they continued to growl over their shoulders at Hiccup, who was breathing heavily.

"I think… They're angry at you for hurting them in dragon training." Astrid whispered, never taking her eyes off the angry dragons in front of her.

Hiccup shook his head to clear his thoughts. If anyone else had told him that, he would have laughed, but this was Astrid…

He looked the dragons square in the eye and in his most sincere voice said, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was always the one hurting you."

Once again, four jaws hit the floor. Three of the four dragons left the boy, satisfied by his answer, but Fireworm wasn't. She was angry, _very _angry.

Astrid ducked behind Hiccup and pushed him forward. The boy gulped before reaching out his hand. Fireworm snapped her jaws at him, causing him to flinch, but he kept up his hand.

"I'm sorry I threw a hammer at your head, called you a demon from Hel, and tried to kill you, but you tried to turn me into a fried fish so we're even!"

The Nightmare hissed at him and Hiccup glared, "don't hiss at me Fireworm! You know it's true! Don't try and deny it!"

Fireworm stared at the human in front of her; this boy had spunk, and a lot of it. Satisfied that she had found a strong willed human, she nudged his hand and roared approvingly.

Hiccup stroked the dragon's snout and smirked, "you know. You're actually a very pretty dragon."

Fireworm purred, and the deal was sealed.

* * *

Within moments the teens were secured to their dragons and were ready for flight. After making sure everyone was on board Astrid was surprised to see Hiccup sitting on the ground, hidden in Fireworm's vast shadow. Astrid rushed to his side and sat beside him.

"What's wrong?" She asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Astrid I can't do this." He said.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock I know you, you're not a quitter!" She stood up and pulled at Hiccups hand until he was standing up too, "Now come-"

"Astrid! You know I'm scared of heights!" He whispered loud enough for only Astrid to hear, "I can't fly by myself! I don't think I can do it!"

The blond blinked once before smiling softly, "then you won't fly alone. I'll fly Fireworm and you hang on all right?"

Hiccup nodded, thankful that he wasn't going to alone in the air. Astrid climbed onto Fireworm and Hiccup followed suit. He wrapped his arms around her waist and clung for dear life.

Astrid let out a cheerful battle cry before Fireworm took off into the sky. Hiccup gulped once, but he didn't bury his face into Astrids shoulder like he did on their flight together. He looked to the left and saw his cousin flying beside them, a confused look on his face.

The red head glared at his cousin, and the matter was dropped completely. Content with the results he trained his eyes forward, searching the vast ocean for Helheims Gate.

Meanwhile Astrid was praying to the gods that her dragon was all right.

'_Hang on Toothless… I'm coming…'

* * *

_

_****__I'm six foot five and I look damn good. I drive a mazzeradi, I'm a black belt in Karate!_

**Poor Hiccup got kicked in the crotch. I just love hurting him!**_****__  
_


	18. Discovering the Nest

**Hi there! I'm watching Tropic Thunder and this just popped into my head!**

**(Bloopers)**

**Hiccup: **I'm willing to help you.

**Astrid: **Oh Jay…

**Hiccup: **(bursts out laughing) that's not the line!

**Astrid: **Sh*t it's not?

**Hiccup: **No it's not _America._

**(End really crappy blooper)**

* * *

Chapter 18

There was a storm raging around in Stoics head. He was still trying to wrap his brain around the situation he had just cast upon the two teenagers back at the village. He thought about Valhallarama first, she would be so disappointed, not to mention furious, if she knew that he had just disowned their only son.

Next he thought about Aldiraz and Zania Hofferson, Astrid's parents, if they were still alive, they would have been heartbroken at the news that their daughter was being banished.

"Stay in voice range. I don't want em' beasts to ere' us." Stoic ordered, trying to distract himself, and failing miserably.

"Yes sir!" Spitelout said quietly before running to the end of the boat he was on at the moment and repeated the order to the other ships.

They were pulling into the mist that was formally known as Helheims Gate, and Stoic wasn't going to take any chances with his men today.

"Listen Stoic, I want to ask ye' somethin'." Stoic turned to show that he was listening.

"Are ye' sure he want to banish the younguns? They weren't do any-"

"You know the law Gobber. Dragon lovers are always banished, and as for lovers of Dragon lovers…" Stoic grit his teeth, "they get banished, no matter _whom _they are."

"I know Stoic but… Think about this for a second! Hiccup's ye' _only _son! Ye' can't _banish _yer' only _heir!"_

"Snotlout will make a fine heir."

"Stoic! Are you _listenin' _to yer'self?"

"Quiet!" Stoic said in panic, "do you want them to hear us?"

"Look, I'm just saying… Hiccup is yer son, and I know what it must feel like loosin' im'. I mean, ye' know Astrid is the closest thing to family I've got left."

Stoic sighed, "I don't want to talk about this anymore Gobber, this discussion is over."

Gobber shook his head in disappointment before hobbling to the other side of the boat. Spitelout then walked up to his brother and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Brother, what's our plan for attack?"

"Find the nest and _take it._"

Spitelout opened his mouth, more than likely to tell his brother he was being stupid, but then closed it with a huff. He sharply turned around and surveyed their surroundings.

"Over there!" A Viking woman said pointing to an ominous shape in the distance.

Everyone pulled out their weapons, but grew confused when they saw the shape was not moving. As they sailed closer they all gasped when they saw what the dark shape _really _was.

It wasn't a dragon and it wasn't a rock. It was a ship, a Viking ship. Stoic took one look at the sails and saw that it was indeed from their island, and not only that, but it was the Hofferson ship. Aldiraz, Zania, himself, Valhallarama, Gobber, Spitelout, and a handful of Vikings had sailed to Helheims gate in an attempt to find the dragon's nest, but as always, they were soon attacked. He quickly averted his eyes, not wanting to remember how Aldiraz and Zania had clung to each other when a Nightmare came hurtling itself towards them before carrying them away.

He and many others had survived, but those two important people did not.

Astrid had cried nonstop, she was so stricken with grief that her crying continued for a month, maybe more.

Stoic quickly shook the thought out of his head before turning forward.

"Keep together, ready your-" his sentence was cut off suddenly when the boat hit solid, rocky, ground.

The many Vikings lurched forward in surprise and looked around in shock.

They were on an island, with a very rocky shore. There was a strange, continuous humming noise and Stoic quickly looked up in time to see a red tail slither into a cave on the top of a large volcano.

"We're here." Stoic said his eyes glazed over with bloodlust.

He leaped off of the boat and landed perfectly, one knee bent and his fist in the rocks. As soon as he hit the floor, the humming stopped, and he looked up in surprise, and a little bit of alarm.

* * *

Stoic and the other Vikings were quick to set up their catapults, they drove sharp spikes into the ground for defense, and if anything landed on those it would be dead.

Nearby Stoic, Spitelout, and Stoic were discussing their battle plans.

"When we crack open this mountain, all Hel is gonna break loose."

"In my undies, good thing I brought extras." Spitelout slapped Gobber upside the head for his stupid comment, making the blond man laugh sheepishly.

"When I give the signal!" Stoic shouted to the men controlling the catapults, "unleash Hel upon this mountain!"

Stoic lifted up his large hand and soon everything was dead silent. It seemed like hours before he finally closed his fist, the signal to start unleashing their ammo.

The Vikings controlling the catapults took their torches and lit their oil drenches boulders on fire before launching them at the large volcano. They all flew and one by one they struck the mountainside, causing it to crack open. It seemed impossible, but that's what Vikings did, conquer the seemingly impossible.

Stoic gripped his hammer in his massive fist and gestured to the catapults behind him. A Viking lit the oil-drenched boulder on fire and let it fly into the mouth of the cave. The flaming rock lit up the entire cave, revealing hundreds, if not _thousands _of sleeping dragons. Soon the light disappeared and Stoic let out a loud battle cry before charging into the cave.

The dragons snapped open their eyes and hurriedly flew out of the cave. Every Viking stabbed at the sky with their weapons and soon all the dragons were gone.

Toothless shrunk in fear as he watched his sky brothers fly away. He whimpered and struggled against his bindings.

'_Run you human. Run, run, RUN!'_

* * *

**Pathetic ending. I know, but seriously… I got nothing better.**


	19. We're on dragons, all of us!

**OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FAST ENOUGH! I don't own How To Train Your Dragon.**

* * *

Chapter 19

Toothless struggled against his restraints as he stared at the pathetic, stupid humans in front of him. He knew it was too late, they were doomed to die, all of them, and it was all because they hadn't listened a certain yellow haired Viking.

The Night Fury watched as Stoic realized that the battle was not yet over, that there was something else that they had missed.

"Form your ranks!" He bellowed, grabbing everyone's attention, "hold together!"

Stoic nearly lost his footing as a literal _earth-shattering _roar hit his eardrums. He quickly backed away as the earth beneath him began to shake. The chief braced himself for a large dragon, but he hadn't been prepared for their _queen._

Eyes went wide in shock as the dragon emerged from the cave. It beat its large coral and barnacle encrusted head against the volcano and it crumbled open. It was _huge; _it was at least the size of the volcano itself, maybe larger. At that exact moment, Stoic knew they were in trouble.

"Odin help us." He said as he watched the giant creature tumble out of it's home.

It roared loudly and everyone covered his or her ears. A few men actually flung themselves at the catapults and fired at the large dragon in front of them, but it didn't work, and all it did was make it even _angrier. _The dragon roared and a few Vikings fled for their ships.

"Head for the boats! Retreat!"

Stoic looked back to see the dragon powering up a blast of fire.

"No. No! Stay away from-"

It was too late, the dragon let loose a giant river of flame, setting every ship in the water ablaze. The few Vikings that had managed to get onto the boats leaped into the water seconds to close. Stoic looked around and saw everyone was running as far away as they could from the large dragon.

"She was right…" He turned to Gobber in complete and utter shock, "they _both _were right!'

He grabbed his brother and pointed in the opposite direction of the giant dragon.

"Take everyone to the far side of this island."

"Got it."

Spitelout disappeared from sight instantly.

Stoic turned around and bravely started towards the creature, but he stopped when he saw Gobber was still following him.

"Gobber go with the men." Stoic ordered, still walking towards the creature.

"No thanks, I think I'll stay. In case you want to do something crazy."

Stoic stopped and glared at his friend, "I can buy everyone some time if I give that _thing _something to hunt."

Gobber grabbed his battle brother's hand and grasped it firmly. Stoic was always thinking about his people, they always came first, but this time he wouldn't be alone.

"Then I can _double _that time."

The chief stared at his friend in shock, but nodded in admiration before turning to the large creature. He released his friend's hand, raised his weapon and let out a fearsome roar.

The two men charged at the dragon, picked up a few sharpened sticks and threw them at the large creature. The wood shattered against its thick skin and it irritably turned its six eyes towards the two men.

"Fight me!" Stoic shouted.

"No! Fight me!" Gobber countered back.

They were trying to confuse the dragon, but it wasn't working. The dragon looked at both of them, reared onto its hind legs and prepared to kill the two Vikings when suddenly a stream of lava shot out from the sky. It hit the dragon's skull and dripped into its eyes.

The creature roared in pain and angrily shook off the liquid fire. Lava flew everywhere, but none landed on Stoic or Gobber. The two men looked up in confusion to see a team of dragons riding through the clouds towards the large dragon, and atop their backs were the teenagers from Berk.

Stoic raised an eyebrow in confusion when he saw his son sitting _behind _Astrid rather than in front.

"She's every bit the boar-headed, stubborn Viking you _ever _were." Gobber said admiring how fearless his apprentice seemed while riding a dragon.

* * *

High above the two dragons Hiccup was starting to pester his crush.

"You need to give orders to the others. They don't know what to do. We need a game plan."

Astrid shook her head, "I'll be too worried about Toothless, you call the shots for me. It'll be good practice for when you're chief."

Deciding to, once again, put faith in Astrid's decision Hiccup simply nodded. As soon as they got to the nest Hiccup tapped Fireworm's warm stomach and she let out a blast of fire, coating the creatures head in lava. They circled around the dragon's head and watched as it tried to get rid of all the lava on its face.

"Fishlegs break it down!" He barked loudly.

"Okay! Heavily armored skull: made for bashing and crushing. Small eyes and large nostrils! It relies on hearing and smell."

Hiccup nodded, "okay, here's the plan. Lout, Legs, see if it has a blind spot, make some noises and keep it confused."

"What about us?" The twins shouted.

Astrid, despite saying she wasn't going to call out any orders, turned around and gestured to the dragons mouth.

"See if it has a shot limit. I want you to make it _mad!"_

"That's my specialty!" Ruffnut shouted proudly.

"Since when? Everyone knows I'm more irritating! See? Look!" He then turned his dragon's head upside down before sticking his tongue out at his sister, who rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Just do what we told you!" Astrid shouted in annoyance.

"We'll be back as soon as we can!" Hiccup finished before giving the other teens a small salute before facing forward once more.

The twins turned to each other and flash matching grins.

"They're finishing the others sentence." Tuffnut said.

"You know what _that _means!"

Snotlout looked at the twins in horror, "what? What does it mean?"

* * *

Fireworm let out a high-pitched shriek as she neared the intense heat. Hiccup winced when he saw the towering flames. Astrid coughed and wheezed but quickly stopped when she heard her dragon cry out in fear and pain. The trio flew quickly to the sound and soon found Toothless bound to a fiery boat.

"Hiccup take the reins!" The blond didn't even give the boy time to think before she leaped off of the Nightmare and onto the boat.

She turned to her friend and waved him away, "go help the others!"

Astrid's eyes went wide when she saw a hint of hesitation flash across his face. He was still _nervous. _The blond grit her teeth together.

"You can do this Hiccup. I _know _you can!"

"Astrid-"

"Don't _Astrid _me! You're Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the _third! _You're not scared of _anything!" _She nodded encouragingly, "don't be scared. If you fall I'll catch you. I promise."

Hiccup gripped the reins and smirked, "good luck Astrid. You better be fast!"

Without another word he turned Fireworm around and with new confidence flew his dragon high into the skies.

* * *

Fireworm screeched as she dived towards her leader. A blast of molten fire escaped her lips and hit the giant dragon once more. The creature screamed in agony before glaring at the bright red monster.

Hiccup, trying not to puke out his stomach, glared right back before turning to the twins.

"Ruff, Tuff! Make it mad!"

The twins nodded before flying towards the dragon, all the while shouting insults.

"Troll!"

"Butt elf!"

"Bride of Grendal!"

Ruffnut let out a creepy laugh that was cut off when the dragon leader let out a stream of fire. The twins yelped in fear before quickly dodging the flames.

* * *

"Hang on Toothless I've almost got you out of here!" Astrid said as she tried to unhinge her best friend using a crowbar she found on the ship.

Astrid couldn't hear the other teens screaming in fear. She _had _to hurry. She had just managed to get part of the binds off when a giant shadow fell over the ship. The blonde looked up only to see the creature's large foot come crashing towards her. She screamed as the appendage came down on the boat, sending splinters everywhere.

They fell under the water, both of them screaming in fear. Toothless looked up at his human as she started to swim towards him. The night fury stared at her in alarm as she tried to free him from his binds. Being a dragon he could hold his breath for a very long time, but Astrid was just a human, she would run out of air soon.

His thoughts were proven correct because not a moment later Astrids movements ceased and she became very still. Her eyes were about to close when suddenly she was pulled out of the icy water. Toothless let out a roar to his friend, but all that escaped past his lips were multiple bubbles.

* * *

Stoic heaved Astrid onto shore and watched as the girl coughed up about a gallon of seawater. As soon as she stopped he turned around and dived back into the water.

"Stoic?" Astrid asked in confusion.

Below in the icy water Toothless sat in his binds. He was waiting for something, _anything _to come and bring him death. He closed his eyes but quickly snapped them open once more when he felt the water around him shift, as if someone was near him. He looked up to see Stoic floating in front of him, a serious expression on his face.

The dragon and human stared at each other for what seemed like years, but was really only seconds. Stoic stared at the creature in front of him. In front of him was the very dragon that no one had ever seen until now. This was the dragon that made Astrid a brave Viking. Stoic neared the dragon, grasped the binds with both of his hands, and ripped them apart.

Toothless stared at the human in shock and confusion. His pupils became slits and he lunged at the chief in front of him. He hoisted the Viking out of the water, gently dropped him onto the shore, flew up to a large perch, shook himself dry and then smiled at his human before jerking his head towards the giant creature.

His eyes screamed, _let's go!_

Astrid smiled before getting to her feet.

"You got it Toothless!" She said before leaping onto her dragon.

"Astrid wait!" Stoic reached out a massive hand and grabbed the young blond by her arm.

He sighed in regret before placing both of his hands over hers, "I'm sorry Astrid. I shouldn't have acted the way I-"

"I don't care what you do to me." She interrupted, "just don't punish Hiccup for being my friend. Do that, and I'll forgive you."

"He won't be punished. I promise." Astrid smiled at that.

"He likes ye' ya' know. A lot." Stoic said, gesturing his head towards Hiccup, who was circling around the dragon queen's head "more than I can ever tell you."

Astrid shook her head, she and Hiccup were friends; she doubted he felt anything more than that.

"Goodbye Stoic."

Toothless spread his wings before taking off into the skies as Stoic stood on the ground, silently hoping the girl would survive.

* * *

Hiccup snapped his head around when he saw a black shape rise up from the ground. Relief flooded through his body as he watched the dragon rise higher and higher into the sky.

"She's up!" He exclaimed before turning Fireworm around so that he faced the other teens, "get to the ground and stay there until I say otherwise. Go!"

The other teens exchanged worried looks before doing as they were told. Hiccup, after making sure they were out of the way, turned Fireworm around once more so that he could meet up with Astrid and discuss their next battle plan. Fireworm beat her wings once before something began pulling her in. The dragon and her rider turned around to see the creature with its mouth wide open.

It was inhaling at great speeds and it was sucking them both inside.

"Oh no. Come of Fireworm try and fly faster!"

The Nightmare screeched in fear as she realized that escape was non-existent. They couldn't escape this.

They were going to _die._

Suddenly he heard the familiar high-pitched screech. He didn't even have time to turn his head before a blast of blue fire knocked him off of Fireworm. The Nightmare disappeared from his vision and a scream escaped his throat. The feeling of wind rushing past his ears was absolutely terrifying. At that moment, a strange though entered his head, Hiccup suddenly realized that he wasn't scared of _heights _he was scared of _falling. _What he was doing right now, that's what he was afraid of. When he had fallen all those years ago, that's what he was afraid of.

He was afraid of hitting the bottom.

His eyes shut tight with fear and for a moment everything flashed before his eyes, he saw his mother, she was smiling at him, but in a moment she was gone and soon she was replaced with Astrid.

_Astrid…_

Suddenly, without warning, the wind hissing past his ears ceased, and he felt something pluck him out of his fall. His emerald eyes snapped open and he gasped when he saw Toothless' gummy smile. Astrid's head appeared next to his and she smiled.

"Told you I'd catch you!"

Hiccup smiled at her and Astrid pulled her head back up.

Toothless flipped the teen over in mid air so that he was holding his arms before gently placing him on the ground. As soon as Hiccup touched the stony shore Toothless and Astrid were airborne once more.

"Go."


	20. Battle against a God

**I am so sorry… Sorry does not even begin to cover it actually. It's just that… I started High School a while ago, Sophomore now, and it's been crazy hard trying to keep my grades up.**

* * *

Chapter 20

Astrid looked down from her perch in the sky and her eyes widened when she saw a pair of wings resting on the creatures back.

"It has wings!" She screamed, an idea forming in her head, "great. Let's see if it can use them!"

The blonde flicked her ankle into a certain position and suddenly she and Toothless were diving towards the barnacle encrusted monster. Astrid didn't say a single word; all she did was touch Toothless' head and the Night Fury understood. He powered up a fireball and spit it out on the creature's wings, it roared once before it lost its balance and fell over.

The astonished villagers watched as the creature spread its massive wings before lifting itself into the air. Despite the vast amount of bulk it had to cart around the dragon was surprisingly quick in the air.

"Did it work?" Astrid asked her dragon.

He question was quickly answered when the dragon slammed through a few pillars of stone to get to them. Its wings were so large that Toothless rocked a little from the slight turbulence they emitted. For a while she swerved Toothless into a maze of rock columns in an attempt to lose the gargantuan dragon, but it simply smashed through the stones as if they didn't exist. The blonde slammed on the pedals as she steered the dragon over the beach. Her fellow villagers watched in awe and shock as she soared past them with the dragon hot on her heels. Never had any of them seen her look so determined or strong.

The teens cheered loudly as they watched their friend zoom by on Toothless. The larger dragon flapped slammed through another boulder and they quickly closed their mouths to keep the dirt from flying in.

Up in the air Astrid was doing her best to come up with a plan. Losing it in rocks was pointless, she saw that now, but what else could she do? Her blue eyes went to the clouds and an idea sprung into her head. She patted her friend on the side and he growled in question.

"Okay Toothless; time to disappear!"

Without another word they soared up into the sky and disappeared into the dark clouds. Hiccup stood on the ground, nervously twiddling his thumbs as he watched Astrid soar farther and farther away from his line of sight. He couldn't help but wince every time the massive dragon snapped its jaws at Toothless. The red head couldn't help but imagine those powerful jaws clamping down on the Night Fury.

His fears were only intensified when a stream of fire escaped its mouth and almost set the other two on fire, "Astrid!"

Miles above him Astrid heard none of Hiccup's frightened shouts, all she could hear was her heartbeat thundering in her chest. She shifted her right foot and Toothless soared into the darker clouds and promptly disappeared into the darkness. That, coupled with the fact that the dragon had horrible eye sight, made it confused and it whipped its head left and right in an attempt to make sense of its current situation. Six eyes blinked in unison as it listened for any sound the smaller dragon could make, but the Night Fury was not one of the most feared dragons because he was loud. Silently the rider and her dragon flew to the side of its head and fired. The assault of blue fire continued on the larger dragon. Its bright glow lit up the dark sky and, to those on the ground, it looked like a lightning storm. The creatures large silhouetted was made apparent every time a fireball hit its intended target.

Finally fed up with the invisible dragon and rider it built up a large cloud of gas and lit up the air with fire. It spun its head in all directions in hopes that it would catch the Night Fury and blast him out of the sky.

Astrid could feel more than she could actually see the oncoming wave of flames. She whipped her head around and gasped when she saw how close she was to the fire; if she reached out her hand would be burned off in a second.

"Watch out Toothless!" She shouted as she hit the pedals to try and steer him out of the way.

She screamed when the fire caught up to Toothless and set his prosthetic tail ablaze. Her blue eyes widened with horror as she realized that she would need to come up with something before they were thrown out of the air. Astrid groaned as she tried to come up with something when she suddenly remembered how a dragon produced fire.

"They aren't fireproof on the inside!" She shouted as she angled Toothless to turn around.

Despite the fact that she knew it probably couldn't understand her; Astrid threw every insult she could think of at the dragon. She called it ugly, old, fat and as useless as a blade of grass in a fist fight. Toothless roared in agreement as he fired off another fireball at its massive head. Irritated that they were still alive the giant dragon snapped his jaws at it. Astrid angled her feet into a position that shifted them into a downward plunge. She clung to the saddle for dear life as her best friend growled at her, worry evident in his eyes.

"It's okay Toothless we're gonna be fine!" She really hoped she was right, "just a little bit longer!"

When she tried to shift his tail fin it barely responded and she knew that she was running out of time. She patted Toothless again and as if a silent message had been passed he began to power up a fire ball. He let the cloud of gas build up in his throat as the Red Death did the same.

Astrid closed her eyes as she sent a quick prayer to the Gods and her parents. She could hear it building up for a blast, and just when it was about to release her eyes slammed open and she barked out a single order.

"NOW!"

Her tiny feet slammed on the pedals and Toothless shot out on wing and whipped around to face his former leader. He cocked his head back and released the fire ball into the dragon's mouth. Its six eyes widened in fear as the entire cloud of gas was it ablaze. The ground was approaching quickly and it spread its wings in a vain attempt to slow down, but the fire was already tearing its body apart inside and out and now holes were being torn in the wings and there was nothing it could do to stop its eminent demise. Toothless whipped around one more time and threw out his wings. The wind lifted the two of them back into the air and they were carried to the back of the dragon; barely missing its mouth on the way. Together they watched as the gargantuan dragon collided with the ground and burst into flames upon impact. The explosion was so massive that it shook the ground and rattled the sky. The villagers ducked to avoid the heat and clamped their hands over their ears to block out the deafening sound. A cloud of black smoke and fire erupted from the ground and shot towards Toothless and Astrid.

The two friends were flying as quickly as they could through the spikes on the giant dragons back. Astrid tried to make them shift away from the flames, but the pedal refused to work. She took a look behind her just in time to see the badly burnt prosthetic fin fly off and into the flames. Then suddenly Toothless cried out in fear and she turned to see the giant club of the dragon slam fast approaching. The Night Fury tried his best to change directions, but they were too late he couldn't steer away from it and he couldn't keep his friend safe. The club slammed into them and they were thrown into the wind.

Astrid immediately lost consciousness and fell to the ground as dead weight. Toothless roared as he began to desperately claw at the air. Images of their forbidden friendship flashed through his mind as he slowly got closer to the small blonde in front of him. He had lost his entire race to the now dead dragon they had just slain together; he was forced to watch as Night Fury after Night Fury was eaten in front of him. The black dragon roared again as he flapped his wings even harder; he had lost so much… He couldn't lose Astrid.

Then they disappeared into the flames.

* * *

**I swear that I am working on the next chapter right now! It's halfway done! I know that it's really short for two years of waiting and I am so... so... so sorry...**


	21. Hope Withered and Renewed

**Ta Da! I know this doesn't make up for the two years I missed out on it, but I hope it's a step in the right direction. I can't promise to update a lot of things right now, but maybe this summer I'll give you guys more stuff!**

* * *

Chapter 21

The fire settled and soon all that was left was ash. Copious amounts of dust floated into the air before slowly drifting to the ground. The people of Berk shifted slowly from their huddled positions as they checked to make sure that everyone around them was okay. Hiccup was the first to recover from the shock. His head whipped around and he peered into the cloud of smoke as he tried to make sense of the dark shapes he was seeing.

"Astrid!" He called as he rushed forward; only to be held back by his father, "let me go!"

"Hiccup you can't just go running around blind! What if there's another rouge dragon out there?"

The smaller teen slammed his hands against his father's arm, "I don't care about that! Now let me go!"

He wrenched his arm from his father and disappeared into the gray cloud in front of him; all the while ignoring the calls from his father. For a moment Stoic feared that he had lost his son, until he heard a familiar voice screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Astrid! Astrid!"

At that moment Gobber pushed past Stoic before rushing in after the boy. The large man called out to the small teenager; who whipped around and ran to him.

"Gobber! What are you doing here?"

"We're going to find Astrid _together _Hiccup. I won't lose her too."

For a moment Hiccup was confused, but then he realized that he really shouldn't have been. Gobber had practically raised Astrid after her parents had died. When the world turned its back on her, Hiccup swallowed as he remembered how cruel he had been to her, Gobber had been there for her. Not to mention how Astrid seemed to bring a new light to Gobber's life; the blacksmith never married and as a result never had any children. The blonde Viking was his daughter; just like he was her father.

Hiccup nodded before turning around and calling out for his friend once more.

"Over there Hiccup!"

The red head whipped around to see Gobber pointing at a large black shape in the fog. As he focused more he was able to make out the outline of a Night Fury. Hope bubbled in his chest as he rushed forward with Gobber limping quickly behind him. When they reached Toothless Gobber was the first one to notice the wire that was twisted around the dragon's tail. His eyes swept over the Night Fury and his breath hitched in his throat. Toothless has his wings wrapped around himself, more than likely to absorb damage, but Astrid was nowhere to be found. He looked around; hoping to see her sprawled out on the gravel, but he couldn't see anything or anyone nearby. The large man sunk to his knees in despair as he thought about Astrid.

"No… Not my Astrid." He said in despair as he thought about the years he spent with the intelligent blonde.

The information caught up to Hiccup and his hands flew to his mouth as his legs buckled out from under him. His small hands bundled themselves into fists before they punched the ground in pent up anger and misplaced sorrow. He looked up when Toothless grunted softly and slowly opened his bright green eyes. The dragon blinked once before shifting his tired gaze to the two humans in front of him.

At that moment the fog cleared and a beam of sun fell onto the dragon. Ruffnut growled as she shoved a Viking out of the way as she and the others tried to make their way to the front of the crowd. When they saw Gobber and Hiccup her face fell as she started to expect the worst.

Hiccup took a shaky breath as he chanced a glance at Gobber. The man had a single tear running down his face and the red head was surprised when he felt something hot and wet pour down his cheek. A hand flew to his face and when he pulled it away he was shocked to see that his fingers were now wet with tears. He had been crying… Something he hadn't done since his mother died.

They were silent for a moment and Toothless studied the two humans closely. Gobber was the first one to break the silence.

"Thank you for being her friend dragon." Gobber said slowly, "and for keeping her safe until now."

The teen could only nod his agreement. Toothless gave them a scrutinizing stare before he, ever so slowly, opened his wings. There, nestled safely in his arms, was a bloody, bruised and unconscious Astrid. Gobber's eyes widened as he stared at the girl in shock before quickly scooping her into his arms. He took a moment to just stare at her before pressing his ear to her chest. There was a heartbeat, it was faint, but it was there and he let out a laugh of relief.

"She's alive." He cried out in happiness, "You brought her back alive!"

Toothless gave them a look that said '_did you expect any less?' _Hiccup flew to his side as he peered over to gaze at her. The bruises couldn't hide her beauty and Hiccup resisted the urge to kiss her head; so he instead launched his happiness at Toothless. Mindful of his injuries the teen wrapped his arms around the dragons head as he let out a laugh of joy.

"Thank you so much Toothless…" He said just loud enough for Gobber to hear, "For bringing her back to us."

The dragon nudged him affectionately before groaning in sadness. His eyes wandered down to Astrid leg and the two males followed his gaze and both gasped in shock. Astrid's foot was completely torn off. There was nothing left of it and Hiccup winced when he saw how charred her leggings were; an indication that it had been burned off while they were falling. Gobber was the first to recover; he tightened his grip on the blonde before smiling.

"She's alive; that's good enough to me."

Gobber had a little trouble standing with Astrid in his arms so Hiccup took her from him and together they walked back to the others as Toothless limped weakly behind them. As they got closer the twins began to cheer loudly and the other teens and their dragons quickly joined in. The other Vikings, after realizing that the dragons weren't going to eat them, cheered as well and soon they were all chanting Astrid's name.

Hiccup chuckled as he smiled at the blonde beauty in his arms, "Do you hear that? It's all for you Astrid; all of it."

Even though she was unconscious; Hiccup could have sworn he saw her smile.

* * *

**I know it's really short and I'm super sorry, but its 1:35 in the morning and I'm running on adrenaline and PewDiePie right now.**


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